Realizing the obvious
by over-and-over
Summary: Jo is gone, Logan and Camille are not together, Carlos is still hung up on Stephanie and James...James is being his usual self..But how are things going to change when Camille's sister decides to drop by LA for a visit? -On hiatus
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the band...I think if I did people would know by now...**

**A/N: Hey guys, I'm way too new in the fandom, but I have a big time crush on these guys (horrible pun I know )! This story just came to me the other night and I just had to write it down! I hope that the guys are not too OOC, and that you don't hate my OCs...Anyway enjoy the first chapter! **

Chapter 1

"Why are we going to LA again?" Ellie asked flopping back on the bed.  
"Because, school is over, and I've missed my sister!" Aria said hopping with her butt on the suitcase that didn't want to cooperate with her.  
"Hmm, why don't I believe this?" Ellie murmured tapping her forefinger over her chin. Aria threw her a dirty look.  
"Because you are not a very trusting person!" she said hopping harder. Ellie pursed her lips and scoffed.  
"Will you at least let me help you with this?" she asked pointing at the green suitcase that overflew with clothes. Aria stopped and tilted her head on the side.  
"By all means," she said sweetly and got off the luggage to allow her friend access to it.  
"See the whole trick is to pass the zipper from the corner," Ellie said tagging at the zipper with all her might. Aria chuckled lowly but then... "And voila! You're done!"  
"How did you do that?"  
"Ah, my child, a magician never reveals her secrets!" Ellie said and pocked her on the nose. Aria rolled her eyes.

"What about your luggage?"  
"It's in the living room, but I really don't see why we have to go to LA Ar."  
"It's our last summer before college and I know you'll get accepted in some Ivy League and then I won't see you because let's face it I'll probably end up in a community college and I want us to spent this summer together and I want it to be awesome and..."  
"Ar, breathe!" Ellie interrupted her. Aria's cheeks had turn red "Look, our summer will be awesome no matter where we are," she said with a smile but she saw Aria's face falling "But if you want to go to LA, then what the hell, I already said I'm in."  
"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" Aria exclaimed excitedly jumping up and down. She threw her arms around Ellie who giggled "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"  
"Anything for you Ar," Ellie murmured.

"I promise you it will be great!" Aria promised pulling away to look at her friend.  
"Oh I bet...A whole summer in LA, at Palm Woods; house of the future famous, with all those people that are oh so full of themselves..."  
"Hey now, some of these people are my sister's friends," Aria said and Ellie chuckled.  
"Some of them are more than her friends," she said waggling her eyebrows. Aria smirked.

"Oh trust me, you'll like it there," she said "Mom!" she yelled and Ellie jumped a little.  
"Yes honey?" her mother's voice came from the kitchen.  
"El, and I are leaving!"  
"Oh," her mom said and Aria gave a small smile to Ellie; her mom was less than excited that her second daughter was to leave for LA.

"Oh honey you'll be careful okay? Both of you," Mrs Roberts said looking at her girls with huge eyes. She was going to miss both of them so much!  
"Mom, it will be okay, I mean dad will be there," Aria said with a little nod of her head. Her mother's face contorted.  
"Yeah, that does not reassure me."  
"Mom," Aria said exasperated. Ever since her parents had divorced they lost no opportunity to speak ill of each other.  
"Okay, ok, your father will be expecting you at the airport considering that he didn't forget about you two going over there."  
"Mom!" Aria snapped. Mrs Roberts gave her a stern look and then smiled.  
"I'll miss you sweetheart," she said pulling her daughter in a hug.  
"I'll miss you too. But I'll be back before you know it, and I'll call every night, I promise," Aria said and her mom nodded against her shoulder.  
"I just want you to be careful."  
"Don't worry Mrs R, I'll keep her in line," Ellie tried to reassure the older woman. Mrs Roberts giggled and wiped at her tears, opening her arms again this time towards Ellie.  
"I will miss you too sweetie," she said and Ellie felt her heart swelling; well at least someone was going to miss her.  
"Oh Mrs R, I'm sure you'll have a smashing time without us."  
"Smashing time? El, who talks like that?" Aria said and Ellie gave her a look "Never mind...C'mon we'll lose our flight!"  
"Don't you want me at least to drive you there?"

"No mom, Ellie has her driver license, we'll be okay!" Aria said grabbing Ellie's arm and dragging her to the exit. Ellie managed just in time to take a hold of her suitcase.

"LA, here we come!" Aria yelped excitedly putting on her sunglasses.  
The flight to Los Angeles was not too long and for Ellie's sake there was no turbulence. Aria had fallen asleep the moment the plane took off leaving Ellie alone to look out of the window. She'd forgotten to put her Ipod in her pocket and since mobiles should be turned off during flight she couldn't even listen to some music.  
Her thoughts kept going in circles, reminding her of what Aria had said; this could be very well the last three months that they could spent together. Maybe her possibilities of getting into an Ivy League College weren't as many as Aria thought but the truth was that Aria wanted to stay in Connecticut and Ellie wanted to leave.

Just the idea of being so far away from her best friend, brought tears to her eyes. Ellie as a person did not like changes; they were messy and made her feel uneasy. She liked the things that she knew but Ellie wasn't stupid; she knew that changes were a part of life, a part of growing up. Ellie though wasn't sure she wanted to grow up. Especially if growing up meant being separated from Aria.

At the touch down Ellie shook Aria's shoulder carefully not wanting to scare the other girl. Aria's eyes flickered and she quickly woke up, her enthusiasm intact. She was so excited to finally be in LA!  
For the last three years, ever since her twin had left to follow her dreams, Aria kept pressing her mom to let her visit her sister. But her mother was adamant; Aria wouldn't go to Hollywood unless she first finished with her school. So Aria waited patiently all the while dreaming of finally being in LA.  
In all honesty she'd missed her sister terribly. Being separated from her twin felt like she was missing an integral part of her being, a part that Ellie could somehow fulfil but never entirely. Her sister was so focused on her career that she only flew back home for the holidays and a couple of weeks in the summer. Of course they talked over the phone every night but it wasn't the same.

"Is that your dad?" Ellie asked pointing towards a large crowd of people and Aria's eyes searched for her father's familiar face.  
"Yes! Yes that's him!" Aria said excitedly and started off towards her father. She hadn't seen him since last Christmas when her mother agreed that they were civilized enough to eat dinner all together; of course the whole thing ended up in yelling and tears not that Aria expected anything better "Daddy!" she yelled and her father's head snapped around.  
"Aria!" he said equally animatedly as his daughter crashed on him, her arms looping around his neck "How are you sweetheart?" he asked putting his own arms around her waist and holding her close.  
"I'm okay," Aria whispered willing her tears to stay in bay "I missed you!"  
"Oh I've missed you too, so, so much," her dad said kissing the top of his head. They remained like that for a couple of minutes during which Ellie stared at her shoes in fascination "Ellie," her friend's father said and she looked at him under her lashes "You've grown so much."  
"I really tried not to Mr. Roberts," she said with a cheeky smile and he chuckled.  
"Care to give your godfather a hug?" he asked and Ellie grinned widely before hugging him. Mr Roberts stroke her back and Ellie felt like she was six again.  
"C'mon, enough with the hugging!" Aria exclaimed after a while "We gotta go!" she said and marched towards the exit leaving the suitcase for her father to carry. Mr Roberts shook his head in unison with Ellie.  
"She hasn't changed at all," he murmured.  
"Not due to me not trying," Ellie said and the man gave her a sideways look "I think we should better go. The other day she was telling me something about hotwiring a car..."  
"Let's go!"

Aria kept her face plastered on the window for the whole ride. Ellie found that very amusing and started taking pictures with her mobile, threatening that she'd upload them on facebook but Aria didn't care. Everything looked so different from Connecticut! So much brighter, livelier! It was great.  
The moment her father got into the Palm Woods parking lot Aria threw the door open and jumped out yelling for Ellie to hurry up! Ellie gave an embarrassed smile to her godfather and followed her best friend. Aria was fast and Ellie could only see her back as she zigzagged through the people. Ellie saw a sign that read pool and had an arrow to the left; knowing Aria that could only end badly.  
"Cami!" she heard her friend's shriek and then a splash. Ellie's eyes widened and she ran to the pool area. Of course Aria had managed to draw a crowd after being in Palm Woods for five seconds "Cami, Cami, Cami!" she was chanting as she hugged her sister pulling her under the water. Ellie chuckled and shook her head.

"Okay, how did that happen?" she asked kneeling at the edge of the pool, though far away so that Aria couldn't drag her in as well. Camille still looked shell shocked and couldn't explain "Aria?" Ellie pressed.  
"Camille was reciting some lines and I just didn't stop in time," Aria said blushing furiously. Ellie chuckled again.  
"Ar?" Camille questioned in a squeaky voice and Aria turned to her sister.  
"Yes Cami?"  
"What are you doing here?"  
"Dad didn't tell you?" Aria asked surprised and Camille shook her head no "Aw he kept it a surprise!"  
"But Dad can't lie," Camille muttered to herself.

"Aren't you excited to see us Cam? Cause you don't look like it," Ellie teased her friend and Camille's eyes got wide at the incredulous accusation.  
"What? Of course I am! I missed you two so much!" she cried out wrapping her arms so tightly around Aria that she couldn't breathe.  
"Cami, air, you, killing, me," Aria sputtered.  
"I'm sorry!" Camille said with an impish smile. Aria took a huge gulp of air and shook her head.  
"It's okay, just don't do it again."  
"Will you just come out of there? I want to hug you too!" Ellie said impatiently. Camille flashed her a smile and she reached for the ladder getting out quickly and reaching in no time her childhood friend.  
"Ellie!" Camille cooed excitedly and Ellie laughed as she hugged the slightly shorter girl "Damn, girl, you look fine!" Camille noticed pulling her at arm's length. Ellie squirmed a little under her friend's scrutinizing gaze.  
"N-not really."  
"How much weight did you lose?" Camille asked in a low voice aware of the people around them. Ellie shrugged and shook her head a little.  
"Not that much."  
"Oh she's just lying," Aria accused "She's half the person she was last year!"  
"Okay that is true," Ellie admitted "But I still need to lose some pounds..."  
"I think you look perfect," Camille told her with a warm smile.

Aria couldn't keep away from her sister. Camille walked them over to a table underneath a blue umbrella and Aria insisted that they should seat together on the same chair. Camille was amused by her sister's eagerness to be close; Aria was never the clingy type.

Ellie for her part couldn't stop smiling. Being with her two best friends in the same place in one time felt so good. She had missed Camille more than she'd let on; she knew that Aria was missing her sister so she couldn't very well nag about how terrible it was that Camille lived so far away.

To Camille this surprise was much needed. Ever since Jo left Camille was one best friend short. Sure there were the Jenifers but she didn't like hanging with them for very long. And then there were the boys but some of their antics were too crazy even for her. Lucy's arrival had shaken up things big time but Camille soon realised that they were too different to be anything more than simple acquaintances.

So to have both her sister and Ellie with her in Palm Woods, for the whole summer from what Aria told her, it was just wonderful. Aria was telling her about the graduation, the one Camille regretted losing because of a stupid audition that didn't go as she'd planned, when she spotted Carlos and Logan. She waved them over and tried to focus on what her sister was saying.

"...so the dean was like 'what?' and Ben just stood there laughing, oh my god, Cami, it was so funny!" Aria was giggling uncontrollably. Ellie patted her on the shoulder.

"It wasn't that funny," she said to Camille "Ar, is exaggerating."  
"Really? Don't tell me," Camille deadpanned. There was a yelp behind them and Ellie jumped in her seat. She turned around and found two boys, approximately their age, standing there.

They were both of average height, inkling towards short, and rather slight built, well slighter from what she was used to in Connecticut. One of them was wearing a black helmet, a blue and white stripped blouse, and a pair of jeans and he was hiding behind the other boy. Ellie thought she'd seen that other one but she couldn't quite remember where.

"They are two! How can they be two?" the boy with the helmet was whispering and Ellie gave him a confused look. The other boy sighed and grabbed his friend's arm pulling him away from his person.  
"They are two, because they're twins, Carlos," he explained. Carlos' mouth created an 'oh' as his eyes flickered between Camille and Aria before returning to his friend.  
"I didn't know that Camille had a sister," he said smiling impishly.  
"Sure you did. I've told you guys, but," the other one sighed and shook his head "You never listen to me."  
"So, that's him?" Aria whispered rather loudly and Camille swatted her arm. Aria giggled and eyed the still unnamed boy with a scrutinizing gaze. After a silent couple of minutes she smiled and turned to her sister "I think I like him."  
Ellie frowned and looked at the now blushing boy, then to Aria and to Camille, who was also blushing but not as prominently. Aria looked back at her with a pointing look.  
"Ohh," Ellie trailed off turning back to the boys "You're Logan," she said with a pleasant smile remembering where she'd seen him; it was in a framed photograph back in Aria's room, with him and Camille taken in this very pool.  
"Yup," Logan muttered knowing that his whole face was in flames. Carlos next to him sniggered and Logan elbowed him hard on the ribs "And you must be Ellie," he said extending his hand to her. Pleasantly surprised Ellie shook it and offered him a smile.  
"I am, has my friend been talking a lot about me?" she asked throwing a look to Camille who had returned to her normal colour.  
"None stop for the past three weeks," Logan said earnestly and Ellie laughed.  
"It's good to know that she hasn't forgotten of me," Ellie said and Camille huffed in an affronted manner, that Ellie knew she had used just for effect.

"How could I ever?" Camille said pressing her hand over her chest. Aria who was sitting next to her giggled attracting Carlos and Logan's attention. Carlos pulled at his friend's sleeve and after a quick eye roll Logan complied.  
"Carlos, this is Aria, Camille's sister," he said and with a hand gesture pointed to Aria who waved her hand a little and winked at them "Aria, this is one of my best friends, Carlos."  
"So nice to meet you!" Carlos exclaimed and extended his hand. Aria shook it.  
"You're cute," she said and Carlos blushed "Both of you," Aria added her eyes moving to Logan who shuffled his feet.

"Right?" Camille said for emphasis. Logan looked up from his sneakers and into her eyes and Camille felt her breath hitching in her throat. Aria mocked to fan herself with her hand and Carlos chuckled snapping Logan out of it.  
"Ugh, so, did you like your surprise?" Logan asked rubbing the back of his neck. Camille frowned and titled her head on the side.  
"How did you...?" she trailed off and Logan looked at his shoes again.

"Well after Jo left you were nearly as moppy as Kendall and...well then you started talking about your sister and Ellie...and how much you miss them...and I remembered that you said your mother didn't want to let Aria to come out here until she was out of high school and..." Logan paused and dared to look up at her "Well I...ugh," he swallowed and Carlos motioned for him to continue "I talked to your father, you know, I prompted the idea, I mean you said that Aria already wanted to come over for the summer but your mom was still reluctant so I asked your dad if he could convince her and..." Logan trailed off and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.  
"Wow," Aria muttered to herself and Ellie nodded in agreement. Camille's eyes were misty and Carlos took a step back.  
"You did that for me?" Camille said her voice quivering. Once seeing the tears in her eyes Logan panicked.  
"Well, yeah, it wasn't a big deal I mean I just talked to your dad..."  
"Thank you!" Camille whispered and shot from her chair and into his arms in a split second "That's the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me," she mumbled and Logan felt like he was about to blush again.  
"It wasn't a big deal," he said wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close.  
"Imagine who they'd act if they dated," Aria whispered again a bit too loudly and Ellie smacked her hand "Ouch!"

"Served you right," Ellie said with narrowed eyes "So Carlos," she said "Did you also know about the surprise?"  
"Nope," Carlos said while grinning as he looked at his best friend "That was all Logan."  
"Hmm," Aria said still looking at her sister and her not boyfriend who were still hugging "Isn't he quite the knight in shining armour?"  
"Aria," Ellie chastised her again and Aria stuck her tongue out to her "I think it's time we go up to the room, the sun is messing with your head."  
"What? No! I want to stay here!" Aria said grabbing the arms of her chair as if afraid that Ellie would physically remove her off of it.  
"Aria," Ellie said getting a little tired of Aria's childish behaviour. Aria was the biggest drama queen Ellie had ever met but she only got worst whenever she was near Camille.  
"You can't make me!" Aria said raising her nose up in the air.  
"Camille," Ellie said hating to interrupt what was obviously a private moment but in desperate need of help "A little help here," she said and Camille with an aversed sigh stepped away from Logan.  
"Arie, c'mon," Camille coaxed prying her sister's hands off the chair. Aria didn't resist when Camille joined forces with Ellie but pouted "Oh Arie, don't pout! I promise that we'll come down here in an hour or two okay? But you need to unpack and maybe take a nap..."  
"I slept all the way here," Aria said and Camille nodded.  
"Okay...but we still need to catch up and..." she looked over at Logan and Carlos and the light bulb flashed in her head "And anyway the guys have probably to go over to the studio...right?"

"Ugh, no..." Carlos started to tell them that it was their day off but Logan pressed his hand over his friend's mouth.  
"We do, actually, Gustavo just sent me a message, and he said that we are already late," he said and Camille winked at him before looking at her sister.  
"Okay, I guess we can go up," Aria said with an eye roll. Oh, she'd seen the wink, and she'd seen Carlos' look when Logan said they had to go to the studio. She knew that they were lying, but at least Logan liked her sister enough to lie for her.

"Atta girl," Ellie said and got up from her chair. Camille dragged Aria away talking to her about some audition or the other. Ellie made sure that they were far away before she turned to the boys "I just want to give them some time," she felt like she needed to explain herself.  
"It's okay," Carlos told her with a warm smile "You can stay with us for a little while, we don't really have to go to the studio do we?"  
"No, Carlos, we don't," Logan said with a lopsided smile. He plopped down on the chair were Camille was sitting before and Carlos took is as a sign to do the same.

"Thank you guys," Ellie brushed a couple of strawberry blond hair out of her face.  
"It's our pleasure," Carlos reassured her. Ellie smiled at him, he seemed like a genuinely good guy.  
"So, Aria tells me, you are in a group?" she asked and Carlos frowned a little looking at Logan.  
"Yeah, we are," Logan answered.  
"Big Time Rush, don't you know us?"  
"Not everyone listens to pop music, Carlos," Logan said somewhat upset.  
"No, pop music is not really my thing," Ellie admitted with a small grimace and Carlos' face fell "But, I promise to listen your songs," she added quickly and the boy beamed at her.  
"Will you?"  
"Sure thing! I'm sure I'll love them," Ellie said and gave him one of her best smiles. Logan watched Carlos as he sighed, his eyes getting softer as he looked at the girl seating opposite him. This was going to be interesting.  
"Ellie," he said and the girl turned curiously at him "What are you thinking to do after the summer?"  
"Oh," Ellie felt her cheeks blushing a little "Well I'll go to college of course," she said and Logan nodded "Actually two mails came yesterday but I haven't opened them, haven't even told Aria about them," Ellie said reaching into her handbag and pulling the letters out. She didn't know why it was so easy to tell two strangers and not her best friend.  
"May I?" Logan asked and Ellie looked at the letters and then at his face before extending them towards him. Logan's eyes got wide when he read the names "Cornell? And...Columbia?" he asked his eyes shooting up to her "Two Ivy Leagues?"  
"Well," Ellie squirmed a little under his intense gaze "I'm sure they didn't take me...I mean..."  
"No that's great!" Logan's eyes lit up and he gave her back her letters. Ellie looked at him quizzically "My letter from Columbia came a week ago and it's still hidden in my nigh stand..." a high pitched yelp cut him off midsentence.

"College letter?" Carlos asked his lip quivering. Shoot! Logan had completely forgotten that his friend was sitting next to him "Do the others know?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the band...I think if I did people would know by now...**

**A/N: Hey people who read this story! How are you? I feel like the previous chapter was kinda butchered but that's because I didn't know where to cut it...Anyway, here goes the next one! (It's short, sorry about that)**

"_College letter?" Carlos asked his lip quivering. Shoot! Logan had completely forgotten that his friend was sitting next to him "Do the others know?" _

"No they don't, and please, just please Carlos, don't tell them," Logan pleaded and Carlos shook his head "The letter is still unopened, I don't even know if I'm accepted I mean..."  
"You are going to leave," Carlos said tears filling his eyes. Ellie felt like she was intruding.  
"Maybe I should go..." she trailed off. Logan grimaced.  
"I didn't mean for this to end up like that," the boy said and Ellie gave him a reassuring smile.  
"It's okay, Logan, it was nice meeting you two," Ellie said and waved to Carlos but he was too distraught to pay any attention to her "I'll see you later."  
Ellie walked away feeling bad. It wasn't her fault that Logan kept his admission letter from his friends, but still she felt bad for bringing it up. Carlos' face was exactly what she thought Aria's face would be when Ellie told her about the letters and it wasn't pleasant.  
"New girl," she heard someone saying and she turned around to come face to face with two tall boys. One of them was blond with saggy hair and green eyes, the other was brunette with a haircut that reminded her a bit of Justin Bieber and a pair of dazzling hazel eyes. Remembering that she didn't really know the number to Camille's apartment Ellie looked at her feet and then over at the guys.  
"Do you...happen to know, where Camille's room is?" she asked nervously scrapping the floor with her sneaker.  
"Sure," the blonde said "It's on the fourth floor, 4J," he told her and Ellie flashed him a smile.  
"Thank you!"

"How do you know Camille?" the brunette asked as Ellie started towards the elevator.  
"Oh, I'm a friend of hers," she said and they both smiled.  
"Friend of Camille's, cool," the blonde spoke nodding. Ellie tilted her head on the side.  
"You guys know her, don't you?"  
"We are familiar with her," the blonde was still the one doing all the talking. Ellie studied them for a couple of seconds before realization dawned in her.  
"You are in the band, aren't you?" she asked and tried to remember the name that Logan said not five minutes ago; to hell with her goldfish memory "Ugh, big time rush?"

"Yup," the boy said rolling back and forth on his heels.  
"I've already met half the band, Logan and Carlos so that must make you..."  
Ellie tried really hard. Camille was blubbering about these guys the whole time she was at home for Christmas. She had shared so many stories and all of them involved the four boys in some way. And Ellie knew that she knew their names. They were just at the tip of her tongue.

"Okay this is not a pop quiz," the blonde smiled pleasantly "I'm Kendall Knight and this is James Diamond," he introduced the both of them.  
"Oh, you are the one that kissed Camille!" Ellie said without processing the words before they left her mouth. Quickly she clapped a hand over it and turned red as a tomato. James chuckled; red suited her rather well.

"She's been talking about that? I knew I made an impression..." Kendall smacked him on the chest. Hard "Ouch!"  
"Dude, that's not cool."  
"I was just kidding," James said raising his arms in surrender.

"Camille said you were smug," Ellie said again without thinking. What was wrong with her? James frowned.  
"Camille said that?"  
"Well, in a totally friendly way! She calls me psychotic and her sister a freak so..." Ellie trailed off.  
"Camille has a sister?" Kendall questioned scrunching his face.  
"Ugh yeah, Aria, they're twins actually," Ellie said wrinkling her hands.  
"Twins? Sweet!" James exclaimed and earned another hit on the chest "What now?"  
"It's just wrong man, geez," Kendall said rolling his eyes. Ellie chuckled to herself.  
"Amusing as you two are," Ellie started attracting their attention "I need to go up there and save Camille from Aria."  
"Save Camille?" they echoed back to her. Ellie gave them a secretive smile.  
"Oh you guys don't know Aria yet..." Ellie actually laughed after that "If you think that Camille is over the top you are in for a huge treat."  
"Promising," James muttered and jumped away as he saw Kendall's hand raising dangerously.

"Anyway, I gotta go, but it was nice meeting you!"

Camille's head was swimming. Being around Aria had that effect on her. Her sister hadn't stopped talking for a second and now the whole apartment was messy with clothes and shoes strewn all around. Camille pinched the bridge of her nose and collapsed on the couch.  
Seeing that, Aria shut up. Okay she could be overwhelming at times. And she did get slightly out of control as she tried to make the small apartment look more like a teenager's bedroom, her Dad wouldn't be happy. With a sigh and a sober expression on her face she slouched next to her sister and rested her head on the other girl's shoulder.  
"How are you Cami?" she questioned her voice small. Camille's eyes snapped open and she looked sideways at her.  
"I'm fine Ar, we covered that already."  
"No," Aria shook her head and pinned in her sister's eyes "I mean how are you really, Cam? No lies please," Aria requested.

Aria was always the intuitive one. Miles separated them and yet after every horrible audition Camille's mobile would ring and it would be her sister knowing that something was wrong. She didn't even needed to use words, one look at her and Aria could tell what was going on in her sister mind. But no, no this time Camille really needed to speak out loud.  
"I don't know, I guess I'm confused and...scared," Camille admitted lowering her eyes.  
"About?"  
"High School is over Ar," Camille whispered "My big break in Hollywood still hasn't come and I don't see it coming any time soon."  
"Cami..."  
"No, Aria, let's be realists," Camille said with a dry chuckle "This guest role in Pretty Little Liars ends in a couple of episodes and I have no suggestions for afterwards. The summer is here, September is a breath away and I honestly tanked my SAT's. Everything is just getting so real and I can't..."  
"Cami it's alright," Aria said wrapping her arms around her sister. She felt Camille shivering and she ran her hand down the girl's back "Have you been keeping all this in, ever since Jo left?" Aria asked knowingly and Camille nodded against her shoulder

It was then that the door opened and Ellie walked in. Her eyes got huge as she looked around the living room her mouth falling ajar.  
"Did a suitcase blow up or something?" she asked incredulously. When no one answered Ellie walked farther in and spotted the two girls on the couch "What's wrong?" she asked and went to seat with them.  
"After high school crisis," Aria said seriously and Camille giggled.  
"It's not really a crisis, Ar...I just feel a bit..."  
"Confined?" Ellie offered and Camille nodded "Oh, this is Robert's high school crisis 2.0, isn't it?" she asked eyeing Aria.  
"What?" Camille asked and looked over at the blonde.  
"Oh nothing, I just had this exact same situation unravel on me like two weeks ago, but from a much more...ugh, aggressive person."  
"Arie?" Camille asked.  
"Guilty as charged."

"Why didn't you tell me anything?" Camille pressed and Aria shrugged.  
"Well I didn't feel like upsetting you without a reason..."  
"Without a reason? Arie, you're my sister !"

"Yeah but you know me, I exaggerate and then get on your nerves...It really wasn't a big deal," Aria shrugged it off and Camille whirled around to face Ellie. Ellie who looked like a deer caught in headlights.  
"Ugh...So! I met Big Time Rush today!" she said clapping her hands and Aria sighed in relief when she saw Camille's whole demeanour changing. She knew that the subject was not forgotten but at least it was shoved aside for the time being.  
"You're talking about Carlos and Logan..."  
"And Kendall and James," Ellie said and Aria's eyes snapped on her "I met them while trying to figure out which apartment was yours," Ellie explained "They were really helpful."  
"Isn't James the one..?" Aria trailed off.  
"That's exactly what I said the minute Kendall introduced us."  
"El!" Camille exclaimed slapping her friend's arm. Ellie giggled and Aria soon joined in, prompted by her sister's annoyed expression.  
"I'm sorry, but I really wasn't thinking. It's just slipped out and besides he didn't look a bit remorseful...He's really smug, you were right about that one."  
"Tell me you didn't tell him I called him that," Camille begged her head rolling back. Ellie grimaced.  
"Sorry."  
"Oh Cami," Aria said in a sing sang voice "Aren't you glad that we visited?"  
"Do you want my honest answer?" Camille asked and Aria shook her head.  
"Nah, I want the answer that will make me smile and kiss you!" she said bouncing up and down on her seat. Ellie started laughing and Camille did too, it was impossible not to feel lighter with those two around.  
"So," Ellie said after a peaceful couple of seconds "What do we intend to do about the living room?" all three girls looked around the place and groaned in synch. It was going to be a long day.

**A/N: as I said, a short one..I promise the next one will be longer! Bye for now!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the band...I think if I did people would know by now...**

**A/N: Hey everybody! This is another short chapter...Well I think they'll all be short but I'll update at least twice a week or I'll try to...Anyway, enjoy!**

Fitting into the Palm Woods' everyday life came naturally to Aria but not so much to Ellie. Aria looking exactly like Camille, got mixed up for her sister more times than not, and she usually neglected to correct the error. Ellie thought that this was wrong but Camille who wanted a break found it rather helpful.  
"So, ready for your audition?" Ellie asked excitedly nearing the island where her two best friends were taking breakfast.  
"Ugh..." Camille let down her toast and looked over at Aria.  
"Well there's a slight change of plans," Aria told her dabbing her mouth with her napkin.  
"Change of plans?" Ellie questioned pouring herself a glass of orange juice.  
"I'm not going," Camille said leaning her head on her palm.  
"What?"  
"I am," Aria responded with a grin.  
"What?" Ellie echoed once again feeling dumb.  
"I don't feel so strongly about that part..." Camille started playing with her fingers.  
"And I do!" Aria answered still grinning.  
"So we decided..."  
"To switch places...Like in middle school when I took Camille's English tests and she took my Physics one," Aria explained. Ellie was still looking at them confused.

"But you are not an actress," she said and Aria scoffed offended.  
"I beg your pardon? Have you ever seen me perform?"  
"No, because you were always too shy to take part in any of the school plays," Ellie said crossing her arms, her juice forgotten.  
"True that," Aria muttered with a nod "But I've moved past that, and I think I can do it."  
"Cam, that's not a wise decision," Ellie said always the voice of reason.  
"Oh Ellie just loosen up!" Aria said and Ellie raised an eyebrow.  
"What if they figure it out?"  
"There are practically five people, including our parents, that can tell us apart without getting to know us," Camille said and Ellie sighed; that was true.  
Camille and Aria looked so much alike that telling them apart if you didn't know them and didn't engage in conversation with them was practically impossible. Ellie knew them both for the biggest part of her life and she'd come to recognise the little differences; Aria's eyes were rounder than Camille's, Camille's lips were fuller, Aria's fingers were slender...  
The fact that they were in fact two different people became obvious once they opened their mouths. Aria was bubbly and spontaneous and so was Camille, but Camille knew when to tone it down and be serious, whereas Aria didn't. Aside from their parents and Ellie only Kendall and Logan could tell the twins apart without them opening their mouths. Ellie found it sweet that Logan instantaneously knew that Aria was not his ex-girlfriend whenever he saw her but she couldn't explain how Kendall could do it.  
"Okay let's say that this works...It's a part in a movie, correct?" Ellie asked and Aria nodded vigorously "Female protagonist?"  
"Main love interest and I'd say protagonist in general, I don't see why we need a guy mixed up in there," Aria said waving her hand.

"This is a story of a football player and his super intelligent girlfriend trying to make it despite the odds being against them, isn't it?" Ellie asked "I mean it's kind of a given that you need a guy."  
"Yeah I guess..."  
"Anyway, Ar, this is a movie production. If you do get the part..." Ellie trailed off "And Cam this could very well be your big Hollywood opening..."  
"El, I don't feel the part, I don't think I have any chance at it," Camille said honestly finishing off her toast.  
"And you think your mom will just accept that?" Ellie said looking back at Aria.  
"Well we turned eighteen a month ago, there's not much she can do," Aria responded shrugging.

"Why am I the only one that can see the potential blow up?"  
"Because you're a worrywart," Aria said with an affectionate smile.  
The doorbell rang and Aria hopped off the stool and went to answer it, her wavy black hair bouncing with each step she took. It was a hot day and she had picked her favourite blue polo fitted t-shirt, a pair of jean sorts and matched it with a dark blue pair of Converse that were well worn out.

Throwing the door open she saw Logan with his telltale lopsided smile. It waivered a little when he saw her but Aria brushed it off and smiled back at him.

"Good morning Aria," he said and Aria clapped her hands for no apparent reason.  
"Morning!" she said excitedly "Come in," she pulled aside and Logan a bit hesitantly walked farther in the apartment.  
Ellie noticed just how easily Camille's bored expression melted away into a million watt smile when she saw him. It was ridiculous how they always smiled whenever they were in the same room. Ellie tried not to question it a lot, unlike Aria, but she couldn't understand why they were not together.  
"Hey Logan," Camille said in a geedy way and Ellie stifled a chuckle.  
"Hi," he said back and stood awkwardly in the middle of the kitchen "So, are you ready for the audition?" he asked just like Ellie minutes ago had done.  
"Actually," Aria said sauntering back to her seat and crossing her feet over the knee "There's a change in plans," Logan's gaze turned questioning and his eyes trailed off to Camille.  
"Aria is going to the audition."  
"A-Aria?" Logan asked not sure he understood where this was going.

"Join my world," Ellie mumbled under her breath.

"It's quite simple Logan," Camille said and jumped off her stool "Aria is going to the audition, and I'm not," she said with another smile "And since you were kind enough to offer me a ride..." Camille trailed off.  
"Do you want to play Miss Daisy's Driver, Logan?" Aria asked with a sly smirk and a wink. Ellie rolled her eyes; if not anything else then Aria definitely knew how to make someone feel uncomfortable.  
"Don't mind her too much, she was dropped a lot when we were little," Camille said patting Aria's knee. Aria pouted.  
"That was mean," she said to her sister and Camille shook her head.  
"Logan, if you don't want to..." Camille started but Logan, who was now not blushing, shook his head and smiled.  
"No, it's okay. I said I'd take you to the audition," he said his eyes pinning in hers for what seemed like an eternity "..so I'll take you there," he continued and looked over at Aria.

"Sweet!" Aria had already picked up Carlos' favourite word "Let me just grab my purse," she piped and rushed off to the bedroom.  
"You don't have too," Camille said and Logan rolled his eyes.  
"I know that Cam," he told her and Camille felt the butterflies go wild in her tummy when he smiled at her "I'm doing it because I want too, not because I have too."

"Ready!" Aria exclaimed excitedly. Logan couldn't help but chuckle at her enthusiasm. She was so much like Camille and yet they were so different...it made his head ache.  
"Cool," he said and Aria winked at Ellie.  
"C'mon Loges, let's go!" she nearly shrieked and grabbed his arm. Then she proceeded dragging him out of the house. Camille let out a pile of laughter and crashed back on the stool.  
"Loges?" Ellie muttered and shook her head "He must like you **a **lot to put up with Aria, I must consider him a hero from now on."  
"She's not that bad," Camille defended her sister "And Loges is a cute nickname."  
"Those were not the parts of my sentence that I thought you were going to comment on," Ellie admitted and took a sip of her orange juice. Camille decided to ignore her "So, what's the plan for today?" Camille looked at her with a devious glint in her eyes that Ellie wasn't sure whether she liked or not.  
"How about we open those two letters that are hiding in your purse?"  
"Or, we could open the one that is hiding in your vanity table," Ellie deadpanned. Camille's cheeks flushed.  
"How did you...? No, it doesn't matter, I'm sure that I didn't get in anyway..."  
"Cami, we'll never find out if we don't open the letter," Ellie said and Camille smirked.  
"Exactly."  
"I'll agree to open the Cornell letter," Ellie said in a negotiating tone and Camille pumped her fist in the air "If, you open your letter from Julliard."  
"El! It was just a stupid thing that Logan made me do, I didn't even want to write the damn essay, I'm sure that I'm not what they are looking for."  
"And when did that ever stop you?"

"This is different Ellie, this is college. When they don't want you there's pretty much nothing that you can do to change their mind."  
"But Julliard is perfect for you," Ellie said and squeezed Camille's hand.  
"I know...But not everyone is cut out for college...Besides, I don't think that I want to leave here just yet," she added with a small smile "All my friends are here, and if Aria do get the part she'll be a permanent resident of the Palm Woods."  
"Right, about that, do you honestly think that it was a good idea to unleash her on Logan like that?" Ellie asked hooking an eyebrow. Camille laughed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the band...I think if I did people would know by now...**

**A/N: Hey I wanted to thank everyone who has put this story on alert or favoured it! Thank you so much guys! **

Aria was about to open a ditch in the waiting room. The other girls were glaring in annoyance at her but she didn't really care. Her hands were shaking and she was getting sweaty. Okay so maybe Ellie was right, she was not an actress. God! What was she thinking?  
"Aria?" Logan's voice broke through her thoughts and Aria halted in front of him "Are you okay?"  
"Ugh, Logan let me think about this," she said tapping her finger on her chin "I'm in a movie audition, I'm not an actress, all those other girls look like top models, and I'm sweating like a pig!" Aria squealed and dropped her head "No I'm not okay," she whispered.

"Wow," Logan murmured and Aria pinned him with a death glare. "Really, Loges?"  
"No, don't get this the wrong way," Logan was quick to say "It's just that it's the first time I hear you doubting yourself it's..."  
"Refreshing?" Aria joked.  
"Odd," Logan countered. He stood from his seat and walked close to her "You have nothing to worry about," he said with a warm smile. Aria could really see why her sister had fallen head over heels for this guy.  
"You don't know that," she said back her voice small.

"No you are right, I don't," Logan admitted and Aria's face fell some more "But, Camille does. And I doubt she'd let you come out here to embarrass yourself."

"I guess you're right," Aria muttered twisting the hem of her tee between her fingers. Logan chuckled.

"And as for the top model staff..." Logan threw a look to the other girls with the tanned legs and coifed hair "They don't even stand a chance," he said honestly. Aria's cheeks blushed and her eyes glint as she looked up to him.  
"You believe that?" she asked and Logan thought he heard something aching to shyness in her voice.  
"Of course I do," he answered. Aria gave him a sparkling grin. Then it quickly turned into a mischievous smirk.  
"You only say that because I look exactly like Camille," she teased pocking him on the side.

"Yeah I might," Logan deadpanned and Aria raised her eyebrows impressed.  
"Well, well, look who can shoot back just as well as he receives," she said.

"Please, I grew up with Kendall, I had to form a defensive mechanism," Logan said with an eye roll.

"You've never talked back to me," Aria pointed out. Sure they knew each other for only a week but Aria had started pushing on his buttons since day one and he never retaliated.

"I just...needed some time. To get to know you first."  
"Ahh, so you got tongue tied before?" she pressed with a coy smile.

"In a couple days you'll wish I'd stayed that way."  
Aria could grow to appreciate this more...forthcoming Logan. Sure she liked the cute and shy guy she'd met a week ago but this version was funnier. And this version suited her sister better. She was about to say something back when the office door to her left opened and a woman barely older than her, her hair caught in a tight ponytail wearing a pencil black skirt and a white shirt, walked out a clipboard in her hands.  
"Roberts, Camille Roberts?" she said and Aria felt her stomach sinking to her knees.  
"Oh my God," she whispered and Logan squeezed her hand.  
"You'll be great," he said encouragingly. Aria nodded hoping he was right.

/

Unable to come to an agreement about the college letters Ellie and Camille decided to spend the day down by the pool. Ellie had insisted on wearing a white camisole above her swimwear. Camille had tried everything to make her get rid of it but nothing worked. She was eyeing hatefully the garment when she saw the bushes moving.

"Hmm," she said pulling up her shades. Ellie looked over from her book.  
"What?"  
"I thought that...The bushes are moving," Camille said pointing somewhere behind Ellie. The girl sat up and turned around.  
"Okay, there's definitely something wrong with these bushes."  
"Aha..." Camille grunted and her eyes swept around the area "And I think I know exactly what that is. Come on!"  
"Where are we going?" Ellie asked but Camille did not answer. She took a hold of the blonde's hand and dragged her towards the bushes.  
"So, spying on Katie's date?" Camille said loudly. Kendall and James jumped up.  
"Cam!" Kendall snapped his hand flying to his chest. Ellie laughed and crossed her arms "You scared us half to death!" the boy accused and Camille rolled her eyes. She turned to Ellie with a reapproving smile.  
"And they say that I'm overdramatic."

"So why are you crashing Katie's date?" Ellie wanted to know.  
"We are not crashing her date," Kendall said way too quickly. James scoffed.  
"The guy is sleazy, I don't like him," he pushed a set of binoculars over his eyes and returned to his stalking.  
"He's not sleazy," Ellie said kneeling next to James. She grabbed the binoculars from him and brought them to her eyes "He's ten James," she said looking over at the couple "And they are cute."  
"No," James snapped and pulled again at the binoculars "They are not cute. They are too young to date!"  
"James," Ellie said unable to hold her laughter "They're playing on the DS while drinking smoothies, it's not much of a date!"  
"Say, Ellie is alone, isn't she?" Kendall asked and Camille looked up to him. Her brown eyes narrowed.  
"Yeah, she is."  
"And do you happen to know her type?"

"I do...But Kendall, it's not the right time," Camille said with a shake of her head. Kendall frowned.  
"Why not?"  
"Because she has a lot in her mind, and I don't want to add heartache to that."

"Who said anything about heartache?"  
"I did...Unless you can tell me that you think that long distance relationships work," Camille said with a knowing look. Kendall felt the familiar pinch in his heart but he brushed it off.

"Why long distance?"  
"Because Ellie is a genius," Camille said with a warm smile "And if she doesn't get into Cornell then it's definitely Columbia, and from what I know none of these two Ivy's are based in LA."

"You cannot deny that they look good," Kendall said motioning towards Ellie and James. James was currently pouting and Ellie was laughing.  
"Oh, I thought you wanted her and Carlos..." Camille trailed off. Kendall frowned once again.  
"Carlos? Carlos is still hung up on Stephanie."  
"Really? Cause I swear I've seen him staring at Ellie," Camille told him with a confused expression.  
"Hmm...I hadn't seen that coming."  
"Yeah and I hadn't seen this coming," Camille pointed towards her best friend and the 'face' of Big Time Rush "I don't think that James is right for Ellie..."  
"Hey now, James is a perfectly fine guy," Kendall defended.

"You think I don't know that?" Camille's tone was demanding "It's just that, Ellie has all these insecurities about herself," Camille bit her tongue, her cheeks flushing "That I should really not talk about," she scolded herself.

"Insecurities?" Kendall mumbled to herself.  
"Many, many of them," Camille answered.  
"I don't see why you need to overreact like that."  
"Overreact? Overreact?" James' tone was high pitched. Ellie rolled her eyes.  
"Don't you think that spying a ten year old on a play date is overreacting?" Ellie asked and James huffed "I mean not even her brother is so upset about it," Ellie pointed out.

"Kendall is the cool older brother, I'm the overprotective one."

"Awe, do you know how cute it is that you count Katie as your sister?" Ellie said with a smile. James smiled back.

"As cute as you and the Robert sisters are when you interact?" he countered.

"You think we are cute?"  
"Definitely," James said and Ellie blushed "You keep blushing every time I say something nice to you," James stated and Ellie's mouth dropped.  
"Well I...ugh, I am not used to compliments...and especially not from a super star like yourself," she finished teasingly but James didn't rise to the bait.  
"You look cute when you blush, I like it," he told her and Ellie's face turned crimson red "Oh and you should get used to my compliments, I give them freely," he said with a wink.

"I think you can see the potential," Kendall pressed and Camille had to admit that there was definitely something there.  
"But this is James we are talking about," she thought out loud.  
"What is that supposed to mean?"  
"James loves flirting Kendall, everyone knows that. He is not too keen when it comes to relationships."  
"Maybe because he'd never met the right person," Kendall said his eyes moving to Ellie. Camille bit on her lip and didn't answer.

/

Aria was shaking. The people sitting opposite her were all proper and polished, with serious looks on their faces that made Aria feel like puking. The script in her hand was shaking along with her arms. With a deep breath she let it fall on her feet, she already knew her lines anyway.

"Whenever you are ready," the man sitting in the middle of the table ahead of her, said with a kind smile. Aria nodded and wringed her hands together.  
"I know what you said...I- I know how you feel," Aria started her tone low, her eyes round and soft "It is difficult for you, I get that. And I don't like pressuring you; I'm not that kind of person. But what about me Drew? What about how I feel? What I want?" her voice grew firmer but still low "Do you care about that?" she asked and her teeth sunk on her lower lip "I love you, you know that...I never made you doubt it? Did I?" the pitch rose in her voice and Aria felt a tear trickle down her cheek "I just need to do this for myself Drew! I hope you understand. I hope you don't hate me because of it, I can't have you hating me Drew...I can't..." her voice broke and Aria buried her face in her hands.

Logan was watching from one of the windows that had view inside the room. When he read the scene he never thought it would be so emotional but he noticed that Aria's playing was genuine and kind of moving if he had to be honest.

"That was great, we will inform you in the next three days," the man said and Aria smiled and made a small bow.  
"Thank you," she said cheerily and walked out.  
"You were pretty amazing in there," Logan commented. Aria let out a happy squeal and then wrapped her arms around his neck. Logan laughed.

"Thank you," she said when she finally pulled away from him "Do you think I'll get it?"  
"I have high hopes," Logan replied.  
"Mmm, maybe you should be a diplomat, have you ever thought of that?" Aria teased him as they walked towards the btr-Mobile, as the guys called their car.  
"Ken suggested so more than once."  
"Kendall is wise."  
"Oh god, please don't say that in front of him. All we need is Kendall with an even huger Ego," Logan said face palming. Aria chuckled.  
"Don't worry; I'll keep it to myself."


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the band...I think if I did people would know by now...**

**A/N: This story is not going the way I wanted it to go, but I'm trying to fix that **

"Where is Carlos anyway?" Camille wondered loudly. The four teens had decided to go grab some launch at the pizzeria across the Palm Woods.

"He volunteered to help Gustavo," James said with a snigger and Kendall smirked.  
"Did you guys trick him into helping Gustavo?" Ellie questioned.  
"Wow, just one week here and she's on to us," Kendall said and James whistled.  
"Smart cookie, aren't you?" he asked and Ellie cursed his ability to make her blush.

"That's not nice," Camille reprimanded them and her friend was quick to agree with a bob of her head.

"Cami!" Aria's shriek made all of them jump. Kendall was almost knocked off his chair as the petite brunette rushed straight to her sister, grabbed her arms and pulled her on her feet "Cami! Cami! Cami!" Aria chanted, much like the first time she'd seen her sister. Aria had her arms around Camille, jumping up and down.  
"Arie, you'll start hyperventilating," Camille warned. Aria tried to slow down but her heartbeats were too fast and she was too excited.  
"So I guess the audition went okay?" Kendall said looking questioningly over at Logan who was standing next to James' seat. Camille had already talked to them about the switch the sisters did for the movie.  
"She nailed it," he concurred and the two boys were quick to congratulate Aria.  
"What did they say?" Camille asked pulling her sister at arms' length.  
"They said they'll call in three days but," Aria said with a grin bouncing up and down "When we were leaving I wasn't looking where I was walking and I kind of crashed on this guy, he was the assistant director and he was really cute...anyway! He said that them telling me they'll call in three days is as good as them giving me the part then and there!" Aria cried out and Camille grinned "You see this is not the first day of auditioning and they've seen so many girls but the director is really picky and the guy said that he was looking for, ugh," Aria frowned trying to remember the exact words.  
"Unmolded clay," Logan said helpfully.  
"Yes, that! I guess me not being an actress really helped!" Aria exclaimed.  
"Ar, that's so great!" Camille told her and pulled her in another hug.  
"I know right? It's just so...so..."  
"Surreal?" Ellie said attracting Aria's attention. The shorter girl rushed over to her seat and plopped down on Ellie's lap wrapping her arms around her neck "Okay, do you realise how this looks?" Ellie asked and the rest of the party laughed.  
"I don't care right now!" Aria said a little too loudly making Ellie lean away and grimace.  
"Lower the decibels please," she said and Aria bit on her lip.  
"Sorry," Aria said sheepishly. Ellie smiled up at her.  
"Congrats bff!" Ellie cooed.  
"So, talent runs in the Roberts family," Kendall commented.  
"Apparently," James added.  
"I just wish I could've come with you," Camille said looking at Aria "I've never seen you perform, considering..."  
"Considering what?" Kendall asked curiously. Camille looked at her sister who nodded.  
"Aria has stage fright," Camille explained.  
"What?" Kendall and James yelled doubt evident in their voices.  
"Ohh, so that's why you freaked out on me," Logan muttered mostly to himself.  
"She did? You did?" Camille asked worried.  
"I kind of did, but Logan was really sweet and helped me out," Aria said and Camille turned to her ex.

"You managed to calm Aria down?" she asked perplexed.

"See, I told you we should consider him a hero," Ellie said smiling.  
"Well it wasn't that difficult to calm her down," Logan said and Camille exchanged bewildered looks with Ellie "I mean she was only worried because she is not an actress..."  
"And because all those other girls looked like fucking top models," Aria said bitterly and Ellie tightened her grip around her.  
"Top models? Really?" James asked his interest perking.

"Kind off," Logan said shrugging "But Aria didn't have anything to worry about," and although he was talking about Aria his eyes were on Camille. Aria saw that and feigned a yawn.  
"I think I'm gonna go crash," she said and stood up.

"I'll walk you," Kendall offered. He too had seen his friend looking at Camille and he also wanted to test out his theory about James and Ellie, so leaving the four of them alone sounded like a good idea.  
"You don't have to do that Kenny," Aria said and Kendall gave her one of his best smiles.

"A girl like you shouldn't be wandering alone at night," he said in his best southern accent. Aria giggled.  
"It's only seven in the afternoon," she told him.  
"And yet the sun is about to set, and only bad things come out of the dark," Kendall said waggling his eyebrows. Aria shook her head smiling.  
"Okay then, I guess you can walk me home," she gave in.

"Do we have to worry about that?" James asked as soon as the door closed behind Kendall's back.  
"Kendall is still in love with Jo," Camille said simply.  
"Yes but he looks like he's taken an interest on your sister," James said and Logan nodded.

"Even if that's true," Camille said running her finger around the rim of her glass "I don't want Aria to be his rebound..."  
"Yeah that could be a potential disaster, especially after what happened with Johnny," Ellie said and lowered her eyes on the table. Camille's nostrils flared and she set her jaw.  
"Who's that Johnny guy?" James asked inquisitively.

"Aria's ex-boyfriend," Ellie responded.  
"No, no, you're saying it wrong. Johnny is a fucking asshat that used to date my sister," Camille said angrily.  
"He doesn't sound nice," Logan observed and Camille glared at him.  
"That's because he isn't."  
"What did he do?" James wondered. Camille opened her mouth but Ellie shook her head.  
"It's not really our story to share," she said her voice low and bitter.

/

"So, did you have fun spending your day with Logan?" Kendall asked and Aria threw him a sideways look.  
"I could ask the same thing about you and Camille."  
"I'd say we had fun," Kendall said.  
"We had fun too. Especially when Logan started talking back to me."  
"Oh, you are in that stage," Kendall muttered with a smirk. Aria frowned and the blonde elaborated "The stage where Logan decides that you're someone he can trust, so he starts opening up."  
"Hmm, I think I like that stage."  
"Yeah it's a good one," Kendall agreed "And I have to congratulate you, since you reached the stage quite fast," he said with a smirk and Aria smiled "I guess that being Camille's sister helped a lot."

"Can I ask you something?" Aria spoke up after thinking about it for well five minutes that they'd spent in compatible silence.  
"Sure."  
"But you'll promise to be honest."  
"I always try to be honest."  
"Do you think that...that Logan likes my sister?" Aria asked. They were at the Palm Woods park which seemed more crowded than Aria had ever seen it. Now that they were far away from the pizza place Aria had no intention of going back to Camille's apartment, it was such a lovely day, so she decided to sit on a bench, and Kendall soon followed.  
"I don't think he does, I know it," the blonde said.  
"Really though? Because I see the flirting, and I see that he cares about her but..." Aria trailed off not sure how to finish her sentence.  
"I know what you mean," Kendall said "Logan is like that though; he's terribly indecisive and afraid of getting his feelings out there. When he found out that Camille had kissed James..."  
"James kissed her," Aria said defensively and Kendal chuckled.  
"When he found out about it he was really hurt. He didn't show it, because that's how Logan is; he keeps everything inside, bottling it up."  
"That's not good for him."  
"Yes I know, and I've told him a thousand of times but he cannot help it. He doesn't like worrying other people with his problems, or showing that something is affecting him more than it should."  
"Ellie is like that," Aria said a bit randomly "I have to literally drag the words out of her mouth when she's in a bad mood...Anyway this is about Camille and Logan," Aria recalled herself.  
"You don't have to fret over these two crazy kids, they'll find their way in the end."  
"I don't doubt that, I just know that it's causing Camille a great deal of distress and it's kind of bugging me," Aria admitted.

"I can relate to that. I swear sometimes I just want to kick Logan's ass until he admits he has feelings for Camille."  
"You know that doesn't seem like a bad idea," Aria said half joking half serious. Kendall's face grew serious, but his eyes were sparkling with mirth.  
"I won't let you kick my best friend's butt Ar," he said sternly. Aria made a 'tut' noise with her tongue.  
"Shoot! There goes my chance," she said and shook her head "Although to be honest I don't think I could ever hit Logan, he looks too much like Bambi," Aria said with a grimace and Kendall chuckled.

"Yeah plus, I don't think Camille would appreciate it," Kendall said bumping his shoulder against hers.

"You know how I like to pick uncomfortable topics," Aria started and Kendall nodded, his head turned towards her "So, how are things with Jo?"  
"Wow, you weren't kidding about the uncomfortable part," Kendall remarked rubbing the back of his neck.  
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to," Aria said. She gave him a couple of seconds but silence wasn't her thing "She's a really great girl, I met her last summer," Aria explained "She came to visit Camille, for one week which turned into a month! Mom was really excited to have all four of us girls ran amok in the house," she finished sarcastically.

"She stayed the whole month?"  
"Yeah, during your first tour," Aria said with a bob of her head "I didn't like her well at first," she muttered her cheeks flushing red "I was kinda jealous of her relationship with Camille, but then Ellie told me to stop being stupid, and so I did. And I got to know her better; she was pretty sweet and really funny..."  
"Yes she is," Kendall said startling her. His eyes were a little sad just like his smile and Aria felt like comforting him; she slowly lifted her hand and stroked his arm.  
"Well I'm sure that when she comes back, you'll pick up your relationship right where you left it," Kendall chuckled.  
"If she doesn't get involved with some drop dead gorgeous actor like Dak Zevon," Aria scrunched her face.  
"I never liked Dak, and listen to you talking about 'drop dead gorgeous', like you are bad looking yourself."  
"Odd looking, not bad," Kendall corrected her. Aria frowned "You look like a bunny when you do that," Kendall said and Aria chuckled.  
"I'll take that as a compliment," she said pointing her finger at him "And I don't think that Jo is like those other starlets, that's not the impression she gave me."  
"Three years are a long time."  
"Not too long, I don't think you're that forgettable," Aria said with a wink.

"You are being too nice to me," Kendall commented "How do you feel about that film?" he changed the subject. It was still kind of hard to talk about Jo.

"I'm terrified," Aria said wrapping her arms around her torso; the sun was setting and even though they were in Los Angeles and it was summer, Aria felt chilly. Kendall quickly shrugged off his jacket and passed it to her "How chivalrous," Aria said teasingly but buttoned the jacket all the way up.

"So, terrified?" Kendall asked and Aria bit on her lip nodding.  
"I don't know, it just that...I'm not an actress."  
"Why did you even go to the audition?" Kendall asked. He didn't want to offend her or anything, he was genuinely curious.  
"I wanted to try it out. Prove to myself that I'd gotten over my irrational fear of being on stage...But then I almost opened a ditch in the waiting area, and snapped at Logan who was just trying to be helpful..." Aria lowered her head and pressed her fingers against her forehead "I don't even know what I'm gonna do if I get the part."  
"What do you mean?"  
"I don't **want** to be an actress," Aria said and lifted her head to look at him "That's Camille's dream, not mine."  
"It was James' dream to be a pop star, yet here we're almost three years later, the four of us being in a boy band."  
"I can't do it," Aria said and alarmed Kendall saw the tears in her eyes. Crap, he always got nervous when girls cried around him "I don't even want to be famous, I don't know how you guys can handle it," she said and wiped at her eyes but it was no use, the tears just kept coming.  
"What? Being famous?" Kendall asked and she nodded "Well it's not that bad..."  
"Not that bad? Having all those paparazzi following you around is not bad?"  
"Paparazzi?"  
"Yeah they thought they did a good job hiding but I saw them when we got back from the audition...And don't you remember that rumour they started about Jo and that guy in 'New town high'? Not Jett, the other one."  
"Nathan," Kendall said darkly.  
"Yes, and it was all a lie, at least that's what Camille told me..."  
"It was a lie! Nathan is gay!" Kendall exclaimed a little louder than he should. Two girls sitting at a table close to them looked at them annoyed and Aria mouthed 'sorry'.  
"Not that I have anything against gay people," Kendall said is an afterthought.

"You see, this is not my world. It's good to crash on it, for a little while..."  
"But not for the long haul," Kendall finished for her.  
"Exactly."  
"I still think you should take the part," he told her after some silent minutes "I mean, Logan was pretty impressed by your acting and he's not easy to please..."  
"You want to run some lines with me?" Aria asked abruptly cutting him off.  
"Ugh..."  
"It will be fun! You'll get a glimpse of how perfect I really am, and then we can make fun at how dreadful you are," Aria teased and bumped against him.

"Sure, why not," Kendall agreed with a wide grin.  
"Sweet!"

/

Back in the pizza place Camille was too focused on James and Ellie to notice the way Logan was looking at her. She was slowly realising what Kendall was talking about earlier; James was complimenting her friend a lot, and he seemed too engrossed in their conversation. Ellie was careful with her body language but she laughed at all of James' jokes and she kept blushing.  
"You've been awfully quiet," Logan whispered in her ear and Camille jumped in her seat. Her hand flew to her heart and she looked up to the boy that flashed her, an impish smile "Startled you there, didn't I? Sorry."  
"It's okay," Camille reassured him her eyes still on James and Ellie. Logan followed her gaze.

"What's going on?" he asked intrigued.  
"I don't really know," Camille said leaning her head on the palm of her hand and her eyes went back to Logan "I hope my sister didn't cause you a lot of trouble."  
"No, she was great," Logan reassured her with his trade mark lopsided smile. Camille bit on her lip and Logan's eyes fell on them. A couple of minutes passed before he managed to clear his thoughts and he looked away. Camille chuckled but didn't comment on it.

"I know that she can be somewhat...overwhelming, but she's a great girl, and aside from her extremely loud personality she's really shy and soft on the inside."  
"I gathered that much," Logan said. He loved the way Camille's face changed when she talked about Aria "And I didn't lie when I said that she nailed it, she totally did."  
"Aw, now I really regret not being there!" Camille pouted.  
"You look cute when you pout," Logan said without thinking. Quickly his cheeks turned red and his face blank.

"Thanks, that's sweet of you to say," she said and boldly she leaned to place a kiss on the side of his face. A fact that didn't go unnoticed by Ellie.  
"Okay, this is not normal behaviour between two friends," she said and James nodded.

"Give them some time, they will have to realise sooner or later that they are dating," he said and made her laugh.  
"They are one of these couples," the girl said and he looked confused "The couples that are dating even when they are not dating," she clarified.  
"Ah, yeah definitely," he agreed "How about you?"  
"Hmm?"  
"Any special guy back home?"

"Ugh..." Ellie dragged out and lowered her head. James liked that about her; she was shy. Being in Hollywood for three years now it was quite refreshing "No, not at the moment."  
"That's weird," James said giving her a perfect smile.  
"You're just saying that because you are a good guy."  
"I am saying that, because I believe that," James told her. Ellie bit on her lip and looked him straight in the eye.  
"Any special girl for you?" she asked.

"All the girls are special to James," James said pointing at himself forcing Ellie to roll her eyes "Just not special enough to tie him down."

"Oh man, I'd love to be there the day you find that special someone, just so I can see the look on your face!" Ellie said clapping her hands.  
"Well, I'll make sure to call you then."


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the band...I think if I did people would know by now...**

**A/N: I should probably stop whining already but I feel like this story just doesn't want to happen...Anyway, thanks to everyone that's put this on alert, or favoured it! **

Kendall had been in Camille's apartment before, but not with her father there. He stiffened when he saw the older man in the kitchen and Aria giggled at him.

"Hey daddy!" she greeted and went to give her father a hug.  
"Hello sweetie," Mr Roberts kissed his daughter "Where is your sister?"  
"With Ellie at the pizza place across the street," Aria lied easily. Mr Roberts looked at her sternly for a while but then smiled.  
"Do you know how her audition went?" he asked.  
"Ugh, she said she nailed it," Aria's voice faltered a little, but her Dad didn't seem to notice "So I guess it went well."  
"That's good."  
"Kendall's connection is down for some reason and he has a Skype date with Jo so I'm letting him use my laptop, ok?" the girl lied again.  
"Yes that's ok. Hello Kendall," the man greeted and Aria saw the blond boy swallowing.  
"H-hello Mr Roberts," Kendall said his voice a little thin; he was never good with fathers, they scared him.  
"Give Jo, my best, will you?" Aria's father requested and Kendall nodded vigorously.  
"Okay, if you need anything Daddy, just yell," Aria told him and grabbing Kendall's hand she pulled him into Camille's room where all three of the girls slept.

"You are too good a liar," it was the first thing that Kendall said when she closed the door of the bedroom.  
"Why, thank you very much Mr Knight," she said with a haughty smile.  
"I mean it, I can never keep a straight face while lying to my mom."  
"Is this why you always put James or Logan to do it for you?" she questioned hooking an eyebrow. Kendall blinked at her "Camille told me."  
"Confidential!" the boy yelled surprising her a little "It was supposed to be confidential!"  
"Okay, ease your horses, I'm not judging or anything," Aria said looking through Camille's staff "Aha!" she exclaimed after a while and pulled two sets off paper "The female lead role had a simple monologue for the auditioning, but the male lead," she paused and handed Kendall his set "Had a dialogue. It's between him and his ex-girlfriend Jenny," Aria explained and took a sit on the bed "I don't even know how Camille got her hands on this..."  
"What's the story?"  
"Oh, ugh, Drew finds Jenny cheating on him with his arch-enemy, aka the guy that wants to be Captain in his position, during a party at Drew's best friend house. It's in the beginning of the movie."  
"Okay...so you are cheating on me?" Kendall asked with a smirk.  
"I tried not to, but," Aria looked quick down at her script "Kurt, Kurt?" she questioned and shook her head "Kurt was too hot for me to resist," she said with a saddened expression. Kendall laughed.

"Ok, ok, let's do this," Kendal said shaking his arms to loosen up. He stood straight and took on his serious face...And Aria started laughing "What?"  
"Your face cracks me up," the girl said bringing both hands to her mouth as she tried to calm down.

"Thanks," Kendall said sarcastically.  
"Aw, you know what I mean...Anyway, sorry, I can be professional," Aria said and cleared her throat. She schooled her features and tried to make her expression look pleading "Your line," she told Kendall when after two minutes he hadn't spoken.  
"Ugh, yeah," Kendall looked hastily at his lines. He had been preoccupied watching the changes in Aria's face, but he hadn't realise he was staring "What have you got to say about yourself?" he asked his voice strong and angry.

"I-I.." Aria trailed off and licked her lips "It's not what you think."  
"Not what I think? Wow, are you going to play that card?" Kendall said, imagining he was in Drew's position; it was **not** a good position to be in.  
"Drew, I didn't want to hurt you," Aria stood from the bed and made a move towards him but Kendall took a step back.  
"Well you didn't do a very good job at that, did you?" he asked adding a small scoff at the end of his sentence. Aria lowered her head, her black hair falling over her face, creating a curtain.  
"I am sorry, I really am..."  
"With, Kurt, Jenny? Kurt?" Kendall demanded marching towards her and taking a hold of her hand.  
"Let go Drew, you're hurting me," she pleaded looking up at him, her eyes swimming with tears. For a moment Kendall loosened his grip thinking that he was really hurting her but when he looked back into the script he saw that Jenny was supposed to start crying.

"Serves you right, you hurt me, I hurt you," he spat out and pulled her slightly towards him.  
"I didn't want to hurt you!" Aria said again, her tone drown in desperation "But Kurt was there when you weren't and I..."  
"So it's my fault?" Kendall asked his voice small. If Aria was to break out of character she'd smile; he was pretty good at this. But she held her ground.  
"What? No, I didn't say that Drew..."  
"What did you say?"  
"Football was always more important than me," she said accusingly and poked him once on the chest "I always came second, after your training, after the games, after the team. And I never complained! But then you forgot my birthday and Kurt didn't!" wow this was hitting a little too close to home. Aria shook her head a little and concentrated on the lines she had to deliver "I barely see you anymore but Kurt always makes time for me! I have to force you to care about me, but Kurt does that on his own. You haven't said that you love me in so long..." her voice broke down and Aria started crying, small sobs escaping her lips.

"Th-then," Kendall had a hard time concentrating on his lines with the girl crying heartbroken before him "Then I guess you should be with Kurt..."  
He couldn't do this anymore. He let the script fall on the floor and went next to Aria. He slipped an arm around her shoulders and Aria crashed on him, snatching his shirt in her hand as she cried.  
"Are you okay?" Kendall asked worried but the girl was too distraught to respond.

The script had done it. What Aria had tried for years to push behind her, was now on the front of her mind, smirking at her devilishly. She knew that Kendall was there, that he was hugging her and that he had no idea what was going on...Aria really wanted to explain everything to him. She really wanted to stop crying, but it seemed impossible.

/

Ellie waited patiently outside 4J, as did James who was bouncing on the balls of his feet right next to her. Logan and Camille were a bit farther away laughing. James nudged her on the ribs and Ellie looked up at him.  
"I think she's about to kiss him," he said but Ellie shook her head no.  
"I don't think she'll be the one to do the first move this time. She's waiting to see if he cares."  
"That will take a lot of time," James said emphasizing on 'a' "Maybe we should...help them, if you know what I mean," he said waggling his eyebrows.  
"Or we could just let them figure it out on their own."  
"I don't like that suggestion. Mine is funnier, and faster."  
"And messier."  
"It'll be for a good cause."  
"What do you have in mind?"  
"Nothing yet...but come and find me tomorrow around twelve, and bring Aria," James said and Ellie eyed him suspiciously. She did not have a good feeling about this plan.

"Shut up, he did not," Camille giggled slapping him playfully on the chest.  
"I swear he did," he said raising both his hands in surrender.  
"Who knew Carlos had it in him," Camille said wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.  
"Definitely not me," Logan said back and the girl laughed again.  
"I had a great time today," she said once she calmed down. Logan flashed her, a smile.  
"Yeah me too. You Roberts girls can be quite charming," he said flirtatiously and Camille blushed.  
"Why, thank you," she said with a small bow. Logan chortled and lowered his head "I guess...that's a good night then," Camille said and he looked up at her. Camille felt her stomach doing a flip flop at the intensity of his gaze. She couldn't resist the urge so she stepped up and kissed him lightly on the cheek.  
"Told you she'd kiss him," James whispered and Ellie rolled her eyes.

"Night Camille," Logan said pulling her in a hug. He wanted so badly to bury his head in her hair and get drown in her scent but being the level headed of the group Logan knew that he shouldn't. And so he didn't.  
"So..." Ellie trailed off looking up at James "Goodnight," she bid him with a bright smile.  
"Nighty-night," James said with a smirk.  
Ellie opened the door and waited for Camille to regain her bearings. The brunette said goodbye to the tall boy and the two girls entered the apartment and closed the door. Ellie laughed.  
"Look at you all googly eyed and flushed," she teased her friend.  
"You're just jealous," Camille exclaimed sticking her tongue out "Dad is not home," she noticed looking around.  
"Maybe he went out for some fresh air," Ellie observed heading towards the bedroom "Ar? What happened?"

"Aria?" Camille asked as well following Ellie. Camille stopped at the frame of the door when she saw Kendall holding her sister who was bawling her eyes out "Kendall?" she asked and the blonde looked desperately up at her.  
"We were just running some lines and..." he trailed off and looked back at the crying girl in his arms.  
"Arie, sweetie, are you okay?" Ellie asked tentatively kneeling in front of her. She pried Kendall's arms off of Aria, and pulled her in a hug. Aria didn't really seem to notice.

Camille pivoted and faced towards the living room. She couldn't handle this, not today! It was supposed to be a fun, relaxing day! She felt someone next to her and she looked just to find Kendall peering at her worriedly. She motioned him to follow her out of the bedroom.  
"You were rehearsing?" Camille demanded sitting on the couch. Kendall nodded and sat next to her "What part?"  
"The one where Drew confronts his girlfriend about her cheating on him."  
"Oh," Camille's face turned pale "Oh Arie," she looked at the closed door sadly and ran a hand through her hair.  
"Camille what's going on?"  
"It's nothing..."  
"No, no, I've been holding Aria for the past twenty minutes, you cannot tell me that it's nothing!" the blond boy snapped. Camille rubbed her face with both her hands. This was not something she enjoyed remembering. It was not something that she should be talking about; as Ellie correctly said before it was Aria's story to tell. But Kendall was demanding and Camille really wanted to just tell him what was going on. So she took a deep breath,  
"It's all about this guy, Johnny, Aria's ex-boyfriend...He was cheating on her."  
"Oh..." was all that Kendall could come up with. Camille forced herself to start talking,  
"Johnny was nineteen, Aria was fifteen. She met him at a carnival fair at the end of the summer. She instantly fell for him; she had some crushes before but nothing like that. This one was serious." Camille stopped and pushed a lock behind her ear just to buy some time.

"He was her first boyfriend and what with him being four years older he was much more experienced. Aria didn't hold back at all, she jumped in head first...I should have said something, I should've warned her to be more careful but...We weren't really close back then," Camille admitted feeling rather ashamed "Aria was in love, and she didn't hid it. Mom didn't like it all, you see he was a complete asshole," Camille said heatedly, Kendall wasn't sure he'd ever heard her using foul language ever before "He hung with the wrong crowd, he was drinking, and smoking, of course mom didn't want Aria anywhere close to him. But Aria is stubborn, and mom forbidding her from seeing him made her want him more. They were almost a whole year together when the problems started. I'd stayed home because of a stomach ache that day, but I'd kept away from her room. Only when I headed towards the kitchen I passed outside and I heard the sniffling. I found her crying inside the closet," Camille felt herself smiling slightly,

"It was something she did since we were really young; whenever she felt like crying she'd hid in the closet. She was crying for a straight hour and I couldn't understand a word coming out of her mouth. Ellie called me at some point worried; Aria had left from school without saying anything to anyone. When she calmed down enough to talk Aria told me that she saw Johnny kissing some girl," Camille said. She shut her eyes and rubbed her forehead with her hand. Kendall was silent next to her.  
"I told her to forget about him; once a cheater always a cheater," Camille said and suddenly an image of her kissing James appeared in the front of her mind. She pushed it back "Aria cried some more but in the end she agreed. For days she was locked inside her room, the same cover from 'Total eclipse of the heart' blasting through her computer's speakers. Mom had to take all her meals up to her room because Aria refused to come down. She was crying more than ever and her eyes were permanently red. I was getting worried although I knew that she was trying to move on and that was good. Then one day she came down for breakfast grinning; Johnny had called. He'd proclaimed his undying love for her or something and Aria was more than willing to take him back," Camille shook her head and chuckled dryly.  
"The whole school knew that he was cheating but Aria didn't want to believe it. She trusted him. I have to give it to him he was being the picture perfect boyfriend when in front of her, how could Aria doubt him? I had to do something to help her," Camille said biting on her lip "Right?" she asked rhetorically but Kendall remained silent "The football club was throwing this party, half the school would be there but Aria didn't want to go. Johnny had told her that he'd stay home that night and she decided to do the same. But I was adamant; I'd heard a rumour around the school that Johnny would be there even though he wasn't in the team –he wasn't even in school!- and I was deadest on going, and Aria was coming with me. She refused, vocally so, but Ellie jumped right in. She was always good at forcing Aria to do staff she didn't want to. So it was decided we were going to the party..."  
"Let me guess," Kendall said when Camille didn't continue "Johnny was there?" he asked and the girl nodded.  
"Yeah, he was there alright. Sucking Stacy's face off. Aria blew up when she saw that. She's quite scary when she's angry. She smashed a couple of glasses and a bottle of vodka. She spat at Stacy and then..." Camille drew a deep breath "Then she told Johnny that he was a waste of time, a joke, that he didn't deserve her or her time and that he...sucked at bed," Camille cringed a little, Kendall noticed that she looked paler "Johnny didn't like that. He grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the house. Ellie and I followed suit screaming at him to let her go. Aria pushed him away forcefully and he..."

"He did what?" Kendall pressed, although he wasn't sure he wanted to know. Camille greeted her teeth.  
"He hit her," she whispered but audibly enough for him to hear it "He...he slapped her. Hard. So hard that she lost her balance and fell. Needless to say Aria didn't want to ever see him in her life again. Thank God that Ellie was there with me cause I would've surely found a way to kill him," Camille said darkly and Kendall knew that she was speaking the truth. He couldn't though say he blamed her, if anyone ever did something like that to Katie...Kendall didn't want to think about that.

"But he wouldn't accept that. He kept calling her, he stopped by our school, he even came home at night, I guess he'd gotten used to the idea of having her around, maybe he liked playing with her feelings...But then Dad notified the cops and well, everything stopped," Camille said clasping her hands together on her lap.  
"Wow, Cam..."  
"Yeah I know..."

Kendall couldn't quite comprehend how anyone could do that to Aria. Sure he wasn't naive enough not to know that things like that happened everyday all around the world, still that didn't make it any easier for him to believe that it'd happened to Aria.  
"You're probably the first person outside close family and Ellie that knows about this," Camille said "Could you maybe..."  
"Keep it to myself?" he cut her off.  
"No actually I was going to ask you to tell the guys, I doubt that Aria will muster the courage to do so and I want them to know, I'm sure she does too. Just, don't walk on eggshells around her," Camille pleaded and Kendall nodded.

"Sure thing."  
"It was actually one of the reasons why I came out here," Camille said and finally dared to look in his eyes "Aria was a complete wreck and I..." her face darkened and Kendall wondered how many things they didn't know about the petite brunette "Acting was my passion but it was after the whole Johnny thing when I decided to really pursue it..."  
"It must have been tough," Kendall said and Camille sighed.  
"It was a living nightmare. And I feel so ashamed that I ran away..."  
"Hey now, none of that," Kendall ordered pulling her in a half hug.  
"I could've helped her..."  
"Aria is not holding this against you, so you shouldn't either," Kendall advised. Camille smiled at him.  
"Thanks Kenny," she used her sister's nickname for the tall blond boy and saw that he blushed.  
"I should...probably get going."  
"Yeah," Camille agreed. She walked him to the door. Kendall looked towards the bedroom and Camille patted his shoulder "She'll be fine," she said reassuringly.

"I know," he said but didn't look like he believed it "Goodnight Camille."  
"Night Kendall."

Camille shut the door and leaned against it. Remembering the 'Johnny thing' had brought her high spirits crashing down. Camille couldn't believe that she had come this close to telling Kendall what happened right before she'd moved out of Connecticut. She shivered as the memories flashed in her mind. Camille shook her head; there was no time for that, her sister needed her. She took a deep breath and marched towards the bedroom throwing the door open in one swift move.  
"Arie," she spoke gently moving closer to her sister.  
"I'm okay Cami," Aria said through a fit of hiccups; Ellie had managed to calm her down.  
"Honey you worried Kendall way too much," Camille chastised her brushing some hair out of her face.

"Cam," Ellie really doubted that this was the right time for scolding.  
"I did?" Aria hadn't picked up on her best friend's tone "I'm sorry, I didn't mean too!" her eyes welled up once again and Ellie glared at Camille.  
"No it's okay, I explained everything to him," she said and Aria's gaze turned mortified.  
"Everything?" she asked her voice turning squeaky.  
"Yes."  
"Camille," Ellie reprimanded her.  
"What is he going to think of me," Aria mumbled and hid her face on Ellie's shoulder.  
"None of this was your fault Arie, I've told you a million times, okay?" Camille said her tone firmer; she had to get it through to her sister that it really wasn't her fault "And Kendall won't think anything bad of you."  
"He doesn't know me! And the story you just told him doesn't paint me on the best colours!" Aria snapped.  
"Aria, listen to me," Camille ordered "I would either tell him what happened, or lie to him. Kendall wasn't leaving without answers and I couldn't lie to him. What happened belongs to the past, and you don't have anything be ashamed of, do you hear me?"  
"I do," Aria said nodding. Camille smiled up at her and pulled her in her arms. Aria quickly wrapped her own around her sister's neck. She looked at Ellie with her puppy dog eyes and complying Ellie joined in the hug.

**A/N: Bigger chapter than usual huh? Did you like it at all?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the band...I think if I did people would know by now...**

**A/N: I got two reviews in the last chapter which is exciting because I thought this story is utter crap, but some people seem to have a different opinion, and I deeply thank them for it! Anyway, here's the next chapter! Enjoy**

**Chapter 7**

Aria finished with the pancakes humming Adele's 'Rolling in the deep' under her breath. She placed them on the middle of the table and clapped her hands. Breakfast was ready! Now she just had to wake the girls up.  
She knew that her break down the previous night had caused much unneeded worry to both Camille and Ellie and from what Camille told her to Kendall to...Wow that were too many worried people in one night even for her.

Aria felt really bad about it so she decided to make it up to the girls with breakfast and then a special 'girls day out' consisting by shopping and relaxing by the pool. She also had an idea of how to make it up to Kendall, but she had yet to find out how to put it in motion.

Aria tiptoed inside the bedroom and took a moment to look at the two sleeping girls. Camille's face was hidden under her black locks, as her chest moved up and down in even deep breaths. Ellie had tackled her pillow, and was turned on her side, her lips parted. Aria smiled.  
"Wake up!" she yelled loudly.

Ellie shot up, scared; she was a light slipper. She looked around for any signs of fire or something that would cause Aria to scream like that but there was nothing. She glared at her best friend and threw her pillow at her hard as she could. Aria ducked just in time to avoid it.  
"Rise and shine girls!" he said and went to pull the curtains. Camille groaned and dragged the cover over her head "Cami, you can't eat your favourite blueberry pancakes if you're asleep," she said. Camille popped her head from underneath the duvet.  
"You made breakfast?" she asked frowning.  
"Aha! And I took Dad's credit card before he left for work, so we could...Oh I don't know, go over to the mall, and help ourselves on some new clothes!" Aria said excitedly. Camille was up at that.  
"Ugh, Arie," Ellie said sliding her legs of the bed and getting up, after Camille had ran off towards the kitchen. Aria turned to her smiling.  
"Hmm?"  
"Do you think that we'll be done early?" Ellie asked pulling her hair in a ponytail. Aria busied herself with making the bed.  
"Early...Sure," she muttered patting the pillow to give it the perfect shape. Ellie nodded to herself.  
"Early like, really early? Or early, after launch?" Aria straightened, her hands coming to her hips, her eyes calculating as she looked at the blonde "Will we be done by say...twelve o'clock?"  
"That's awfully specific," Aria said "My spidery senses are tickling," Ellie sifted uncomfortably playing with her fingers.  
"Well, you see, last night...Before we came in here and...You know," she trailed off and Aria grimaced.  
"I do," she said and Ellie offered her a smile "Continue."  
"Right...We, ugh, we were saying good night to the guys...And James betted me that Camille would kiss Logan and she did..."  
"WHAT?" Aria demanded and ran to the door; full on questioning mode, but in the last minute Ellie took a hold of her hand and dragged her back.  
"Shh!" the blonde ordered.  
"Camille kissed Logan?" Aria hissed. She turned to the door; from her place in the bedroom she could clearly see her sister eating her breakfast "When? What happened? Why didn't anyone tell me anything?" she asked pouting.  
"It was a kiss in the cheek and I didn't tell you a) because when I came here you were crying your eyes out in Kendall's arms, and b) Camille was here all the while..."  
"Since when can we not gossip about Camille when she's present?"  
"Since we are not eleven anymore."  
"Whatever," Aria freed her hand and smoothed down her blouse "So..." she trailed off questioningly.  
"So after that, James said that he had a plan...but he didn't have a plan," Ellie frowned "I don't really know how that works...Anyway, he said to meet him today at noon over at their apartment so we can...come up with a plan?" she muttered questioningly still frowning.  
"A plan about what?"  
"Oh, that was specific, a plan about getting Logan and Camille together."  
"Woo, lovely plan!" Aria exclaimed clapping her hands "So, wait, James has a plan? Or we're going to come up with one?" she asked. Ellie shook her head.  
"I still haven't figured this one out," Ellie said tilting her head on the side "Back to the point, you think we'll be done by noon?"

"Definitely," Aria said grinning. Ellie stifled a groan; things were not good when Aria grinned.

"Now take these," Aria thrust a dozen dresses in Camille's hand "And go put them on," she continued pushing her towards the changing room.  
"But I don't need a new dress," Camille protested. Aria yelped in mock horror bringing her hand up to her mouth.  
"We are always in need of a new dress!" she said her voice high pitched. Camille looked pleadingly towards Ellie.

"Uh-huh, she's has the credit card, she's the boss," the girl said and Camille pouted as she walked in the changing room.  
"Hey, Ar..." she said after a while. Aria twirled around,  
"Yep?"  
"All these dresses are blue," Camille looked at the twelve dresses that her sister had picked out for her.  
"No, I know that there was definitely a turquoise and a teal one..."  
"These are variations of blue!" Camille snapped.

"Blue looks great on you," Ellie interjected "It brings out your eyes."  
"Awe, thanks!" Aria smiled gratefully at her friend and Ellie made a small bow.

"Now put them on!" Aria ordered and started browsing.  
"Why are all the dresses blue?" Ellie asked in a low voice so Camille couldn't listen. Aria looked up for a second and then back at the t-shirts.  
"Cami told me that it's Logan's favourite colour," she said simply with a shrug.  
"Aha..." Ellie trailed off "Couldn't you at least pick something in red?" she asked and Aria frowned momentarily.  
"Why red?"  
"Oh, I don't know...Maybe because it's Camille's favourite colour?" Ellie said sarcastically.  
"Cute," Aria said dryly "Hanging out with those boys has made your sarcasm worst."  
"Let my sarcasm be," Ellie said defensively. Aria grabbed a pink blouse and put it under Ellie's head.  
"Go try this on," she instructed. Ellie pushed the hanger and consequently the t-shirt away.

"I don't wear pink."  
"It's crimson!"  
"It's pink, and I haven't worn this colour since I was eight," Ellie insisted. Aria huffed in annoyance.

"But it totally compliments your complex."  
"Keep talking Arie, you know that there's no way I'll put it on," Ellie said and walked farther into the shop.

/

Kendall never knocked before entering a room. Carlos knew that. So he shouldn't have been so startled when the blonde surged inside his and James' room. He shouldn't have jumped like he did. He certainly shouldn't have yelped as he did. And it would've been a good idea to not try to hide the photograph underneath his pillow.  
"What do you have there?" Kendall asked curiously and Carlos eyes got wide. Both his hands moved over the pillow and pushed it down on the bed.  
"Not a photograph," he said offhandedly with a small shrug. Kendall momentarily narrowed his eyes, but he gave his friend a nod. Carlos relaxed; but he should've known better than that.  
Rule number one of being friend's with Kendall; you shall never, ever, let your guards down around the tall blonde. But Carlos did. And it was the moment he saw him sighing that Kendall darted towards the pillow.  
"Kendall no!" Carlos yelled and even though he was normally quicker than Kendall the other boy had a head start.

"Aha!" Kendall exclaimed triumphantly. He took a couple of steps back that were needed if he didn't want Carlos to jump from the bed and tackle him, and then looked at what he was holding.  
Carlos felt his cheeks flushing as Kendall's eyes fell on the photograph. It had been a year...and four months...and two weeks...okay and four days...fine, fine seven hours too since the last time that Carlos had seen Stephanie. Not that he counted or anything. Unless of course you also counted all the times he saw her while looking at the well worn out photo.

"Wow, Carlitos, still?" Kendall asked looking up. Kendall always insinuated that Carlos was still hung up on Stephanie but he never had actual proof of it.

"I just happened to find it lying around..." Carlos shrugged.  
"Under your pillow?" Kendall asked accusingly. Carlos lowered his eyes and Kendall sighed "Carlos..."  
"Kendall," Carlos voice was low and Kendall instantly stopped "Can we please, not talk about it?" he asked. He could almost see the fight that Kendall was putting up with himself inside his head.

Kendall was a good leader; he was a good brother, a good son, and a good hockey player. But he was an even better friend. If there was something, anything that he could do to help his friends he would do it, no questions asked. And Carlos knew that Kendall felt like he needed to do something right now, that Kendall felt like he could help him, but Carlos doubted that. No it was like his mother always said 'Some things we have to face them alone, on our own time'. This was one of those things, and Carlos was not ready to face it yet.  
"Sure," Kendall said his shoulders slumming a little.  
"Thanks," Carlos said earnestly. Kendall handed him the photograph and the boy didn't try to hide it this time; instead he placed it on the pillow "Did you want to talk about something?"  
"Ugh, we need to kick Logan out of the house," Kendall said clasping his hands together behind his back and bouncing lightly on his feet.  
"What? Why?" Carlos cried out getting on his knees "What did he do? Kendall I'm sure that we can talk this out..."  
"Carlos, ease up buddy," Kendall said with a soft chuckle "I didn't mean really kick him out," he said and once again Carlos sighed thankfully "I meant get him out of the house for a couple of hours."

"What for?" he asked frowning.  
"Well the girls are..." Kendall was cut off by the sound of the doorbell. His eyes widened and he looked at his watch "Shit they're here early!"  
It could be considered stalking. Well, not really. It's not like he had his binoculars with him or anything. No. James was just sitting in the kitchen, eating some cereal. And he just happened to watch Logan's every move, willing him to just close the freaking book and declare he was going to the pool. Of course Logan didn't do that.  
Then the doorbell rang and James nearly fell of his stool. He jumped up and went to the door before Logan had a chance too.

"Morning..." Aria and Ellie were at the other side and James gave them a tight smile.  
"Good morning girls!" he said loud enough to make Aria to pull a face "Oh, what? Yes, yes, Logan is here," he said even though neither of them had asked about him.

"Oh," Aria whispered "I got this," she said in a low voice and pushed James aside to march in the house "Logan! Just the cute boy band member I was looking for!" she said excitedly. The boy looked up from his book and smiled at her.  
"Oh, hey Aria, I didn't know you were coming over," he said pleasantly. Aria offered him a smile.  
"I need a favour," Aria decided to be straight forward and sat down next to him, forcing her eyes to be as wide as they could possibly get. Kendall and Carlos who had both emerged from the room looked questioningly at Ellie but the girl just shrugged.  
"Ugh, yeah sure, whatever you need," Logan said and finally James' wish came true; he closed the book and let it on the coffee table.  
"I want you to go down to the pool and...Just keep Camille down there, distract her," she said.

"Ah...why do I have to do that?"

"Because! I want to organize a birthday party for her and I can't have her in the house now can I?"

"Camille's birthday was a month ago."  
"Gee, really? I didn't know that," Aria said sarcastically rolling her eyes "But I was not here a month ago. I didn't get to throw her a party, and I didn't get to blow the candles with her. And I really want to do this Loges," she said jutting her lip out.  
Logan squirmed in his seat. That morning he had decided that this whole being just friends with Camille was exceptionally hard and that he should maybe take a break. Keep his distance for a little while until he could short out his feelings. But how could he refuse Aria when she looked at him like that?  
"Can't you ask Lucy?" he asked half heartedly.

"Camille doesn't like Lucy," Aria said with a shake of her head.  
"She doesn't?" James echoed, earning for himself an elbow on his ribs.

"One of the guys could..."  
"Logan, please," Aria pleaded. Why was he being so hard on this? It was like he didn't want to be alone with Camille "Please, please, please, please, please..."  
"Okay, okay, fine!" Logan exclaimed putting his hands up. Aria squealed and clapped excitedly.  
"Thank you!"  
"It's fine Ar," he said with an eye roll, smirking.

"Just make sure that she doesn't come up for at least an hour okay?" Aria asked as he stood up and walked to the door.

"Sure thing."  
"Thanks again, Loges!"

"Wow you are good," Carlos complimented and Aria made a small bow "Almost as good as Kendall," the Latino said making Aria grin widely. Kendall though frowned.  
"Now, now, let's not get ahead of ourselves..."  
"Oh," Aria exclaimed cutting him off "Is someone scared that he's being replaced?"  
"No!" Kendall said rather heatedly "No, because this is not true. Not true at all. There's not an ounce of honesty in that statement..."  
"In how many ways can he say that?" Ellie asked James under her breath and he chuckled.  
"So, Camille really doesn't like Lucy?" he asked and Ellie's mouth snapped a couple of times until she found the words she was looking for.  
"Well it's not that she doesn't like her. I mean she wouldn't go out of her way to not hang out with her. I guess that it has to do with Lucy trying too hard to replace Jo," Ellie explained and James raised his eyebrows. The question though came from Carlos,  
"Lucy is trying to replace Jo?"

The second Kendall heard the name he stopped arguing with Aria. The girl saw how his face fell and how his whole posture changed; one second he was calm and carefree the next he was guarded. Now Aria knew that she had to find a way to put her plan in motion; she didn't know these boys for long but they were Camille's friends and Aria always considered her sister's friends as her own. She didn't like seeing Kendall so sad.  
"Lucy is new to the Palm Woods, and sure she plays tough and all but she doesn't know anyone in LA. She has no friends, her family is States away," Ellie explained using Camille's exact words "You guys were the first people she met here. You and Camille...After Logan broke up with Camille she started spending more and more time with Jo but then she left and..." Ellie stopped and took a deep breath.  
"Camille wanted a new best friend," Aria cut in "That's why she reached out to Lucy but they are too different...Camille said that Lucy is okay, but she was trying too much, it didn't feel natural. And I think that Lucy spending so much time with Logan during that whole figure skating- code breaking- secret keeping debacle didn't help at all."  
"Oh man," Kendall slapped his hand on his forehead "She told you about that?" he asked his voice strained. Aria giggled.  
"I'm her sister, we don't keep secrets, of course she told me. She said she had pictures," Aria said tauntingly and Kendall's eyes grew wide.  
"Pictures?" he stuttered.  
"Yeah, as in photos, of you two dressed up...I still haven't gotten my hands on them..."  
"Well when you do make sure you make a copy for me," James said excitedly and Kendall threw him a death glare.  
"Oh, oh! Me too!" Carlos said excitedly bouncing up and down.  
"There are no photos guys," Ellie said shaking her head.  
"Sure there are!"  
"No, Ar, there aren't," Ellie said shrugging. Aria huffed "And besides all that, you do realise that now we have to throw a party for Camille, right?"  
"Party!" Carlos and James exclaimed at the same time.  
"Well ladies," Carlos said his eyes flickering between the two girls "You can let us take care of this..."

"It smells like a job for the Hollywood super party kings of Hollywood," James said in his serious deep voice, the one that he used when he talked to himself on the mirror. Kendall rolled his eyes. Ellie frowned and tilted her head on the side.

"You said Hollywood twice," she pointed out. Carlos instantly entered her personal space.  
"You bet he did," he said seriously, before pulling away. Ellie looked questioningly over at Aria who shrugged.  
"Didn't you guys already throw Camille a huge party that nearly got you kicked out of the Palm Woods?" Aria asked crossing her arms over chest. James and Carlos started mumbling at the same time in such a fast pace that made it impossible for her to understand what they were saying "Stop, stop, stop," she said raising her hands "I know exactly what we are going to do for Camille, but I do really appreciate you guys offering to help."  
"Does this mean no party?" Carlos asked pouting. James patted his shoulder.  
"There will still be cake," Aria said hoping to soften the blow; and she did. Carlos' face lit up.  
"Sweet!"  
"Okay!" Kendall clapped his hands to get everyone's attention "Now that we settled all that, let's get started on the pressing matters."

**A/N: I liked this chapter, did you like it? If not, blame my finals, they mess up with my writing**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the band...I think if I did people would know by now...**

**A/N: So I wrote this while taking a break between studying about the Economic History of the 20****th **** century and Roman Law...so I don't really know if it makes any sense because my head wasn't totally there while writing it...But I had fun with it, so I hope you'll enjoy it! **

Camille was lounging by the pool; her sunglasses perched on her nose and a white hat with red brim resting on her head. It was Aria's present; Aria was a hat person, she owned a bazillion of them. Camille stretched and a pleased smile appeared on her lips; oh it was nice to be under the sun. And it was better that she was there alone. Not that she didn't appreciate Ellie and Aria travelling all the way from Connecticut to LA just to be with her but Camille secretly enjoyed this little break she'd taken from them. She had protested when the girls said that they had to do something and dumped her on the pool, but she did so half-heartedly; she really did want them to go do whatever they needed to do.

She had ended up buying a new dress; a baby-blue, strapless balloon one. Aria couldn't stop gushing when she saw Camille in it and she was quite persistent on buying it. They'd also forced Ellie to try out a pink t-shirt; Ellie had nearly burst into tears but in the end she gave in. She did put it on but didn't buy it. Aria herself had purchased a pair of jeans with bleach patches over the knees and a pair of shorts jeans.  
After that Aria wanted to go shoe shopping but for some reason Ellie kept reminding her of the time. Camille did find it peculiar but some much needed relax time was much more important than interrogating the duo about it.

Something covered the sun and begrudgingly Camille opened her eyes; she wasn't amused to be interrupted. All that though changed when she saw Logan standing over her. He was dressed in a black t-shirt and a pair of slacks, not his usual attire for the pool. She sat up, and smiled at him.  
Frankly she didn't know what to think of their relationship anymore. Everything was always so complicated between them, Camille didn't like that. She wanted things to be simple. She wanted Logan to like her, to want her. Just like she wanted him. And he did, though not all the time. One minute he did and then the next something would happen and he lose all interest in her.

"Hey Logan," she greeted and motioned for him to take a seat.  
"Ugh...hi," he said hesitantly, his eyes glued on her face.

He hadn't seen this coming. Right now he was kind of furious with himself. How could he not have seen this coming? Of course Camille would be dressed in her bathing-suit; she was in the pool area! The last time that Logan had seen Camille in a bathing suit though it wasn't a bikini.

Camille noticed that Logan was squirming. She took her shades off and looked him in the eye.  
"Hey, is there something wrong? Are you okay?" she asked touching his shoulder.  
"I-I'm fine!" Logan brushed her question off, his tone high pitched.

It was okay, he could do this. He promised Aria he'd do this. All he had to do was focus on Camille's face. Just that. Deep breath in, long breath out. Just look at her face, Logan repeated in his mind. His eyes though were treacherous and they slipped down, lower and lower on her body. His face turned a bright shade of pink.

/

"Oh! Right! Operation, make Logan and Camille realize that they have the hots for each other!" Carlos said enthusiastically. James crunched his face.  
"This is way too long for an operation name," he said.

"Why do we need to name it?" Ellie asked confused. The three guys yelped and moved closer to one another. Aria chuckled; she found their antics so funny.

"An operation without name is a doomed operation from the start!" Kendall exclaimed seriously. Carlos and James nodded along. Ellie rolled her eyes and went to sit at the table, soon the others followed.  
"Okay, how about Operation, force Logan to realize that he actually likes Camille?" Carlos said and James huffed.  
"This is even longer than the last one!" he said sounding exasperated.  
"Does it have to start with 'operation'?" Aria asked and the three boys nodded in unison.  
"Operation realization!" James said excitedly. Carlos looked at him and then slapped his hand on his forehead.  
"That's a little too vague James," Kendall said and James pouted. He crossed his arms and leaned back on his chair.  
"Am I the only one that thinks this is ridiculous?" Ellie asked.  
"Yeah," the guys said and Aria nodded. Ellie raised an eyebrow.  
"Et tu Brute?" she asked and Carlos frowned.  
"I think it's funny," Aria defended herself at the same time that Carlos asked,  
"Why are you calling her Brute? That's not her name."  
"It's an expression, usually used when the last person you expect to betrays you," Ellie explained. Carlos face from baffled turned blank and then he smiled.  
"You remind me of Logie," he said.  
"Mmm, I don't know if Logan is quite as clever as Ellie," Aria commented.  
"What?" Logan's best friends demanded looking at her.  
"Well if he were it wouldn't have taken him that long to understand that he wants my sister."  
"She's got a point," James said and Kendall turned to him.  
"That has nothing to do with Logan's intelligence, _James, _and much more to do with the fact that last time he did admit he liked Camille and started going out with her he got screwed over by one of his best friends!"  
"Hey, I've apologised for that like a million times! There's only so much a guy can do!"  
"Yeah, so much; like keep away from his best friend's girlfriend!" Kendall yelled.

Ellie couldn't believe how fast the atmosphere in the room changed. The looks between Kendall and James were electrified and they both had adopted a defensive posture. Kendall looked really angry on Logan's behalf; Ellie noticed that James fists were clenched. She looked at her best friend in disbelief; it was Aria's innocent comment that had started this.  
"Hey guys, knock it out," Carlos stepped in.  
"He started it!" they said in unison.  
"I don't care who started it," Carlos voice was authoritative surprising everyone around the table; including himself "This will not help with the Operation, James; so don't push it. And Kendall; James and Logan worked everything out, so don't butt in."

"Oh c'mon Carlos you know that Logan is still hurting over that!" Kendall snapped. James' face grew pale.

"What?" he asked his voice sounding small.

"You and I both know that this is one of the reasons why Logan can't make up his mind. He's worried about it happening again, he's worried about what is going to happen to him if it happens again..."  
"Well you sneaking around with Camille to figure-skate, all the while keeping it a secret from him didn't help him much to make a decision."  
Carlos wasn't sure why he said that. He didn't even know that he was thinking that. It came literally out of nowhere. He chanced a look at Kendall's face; the blonde looked shocked to his core. Carlos' eyes travelled over to James who was still pale white. Carlos knew that after the break up Logan put on a strong face whenever he was around James, or people in general. But he had heard him breaking down in his room while Kendall tried to comfort him. And once Carlos had walked in on Logan crying in the bathroom.

It wasn't James' fault though, Carlos knew that. Even Kendall knew that, but he refused to admit it. Logan had forgiven James, he'd even forgiven Camille. He couldn't though forgive himself. Being Logan's best friend for all these years, Carlos knew how Logan's self-esteem was practically none existent. Things had changed a bit when they moved to LA but fundamentally Logan was still the same person that got picked on by bullies from middle school to high school and was too shy to speak to the girls he liked.

"How about Operation Lomille?" Aria's voice broke the deafening silence.

She was rather uncomfortable with all that tension in the room. Aria didn't like fights; well she didn't like them when she wasn't the one to start them. She particularly didn't like that it all somehow revolved around her sister and one of the boys. She knew that Camille had a good heart, that she was one of the best sisters that anyone could have, and that she would never intentionally hurt Logan. But apparently she'd done so without realising it and more than once. Aria hated to admit it to herself but she was starting to understand Logan's stance more and more as the days passed.

"What does Lomille mean?" Ellie asked grateful that someone was finally speaking.  
"Oh, it's ugh..." Aria cleared her throat "It's a term that the BTR fans use when they refer to Logan and Camille. It's a merge of their names..."  
"Lomille," Kendall whispered and then chuckled "I like it," he said with a goofy grin. Aria offered him a smile.

"Okay so now that we have a name," Carlos said looking at his clasped hands on top of the table "What is the actual plan?"

_/_

Talking with Camille was always so easy. From early on Logan realised that he could talk to her about everything. Usually he was a very guarded person but he found Camille to be very trustworthy; he knew that whatever he told her it would stay between them two.

That being said he had absolutely no idea what to say to her. The silence between them wasn't awkward, it was tension-free and relaxing but Logan knew that he had to say something at some point. The only problem was that he couldn't think of anything.

"So," Camille said but didn't know how to continue. It was weird to not know what to say to Logan. He looked at her expectantly and Camille smiled "Have you started recording yet?" she asked although she knew the answer.  
"Ugh, yeah, last week," Logan said eagerly. They'd talked about the new album before, but anything was better than just sitting there, trying not to look at her exposed body "Gustavo only has like, five songs written but he's hopeful that he'll have the rest of them done in a week."  
"Writer's block again?" Camille asked knowingly picking the hidden meaning behind his words. Logan sighed.  
"Yup, and this time, it's worst than all the others. He's not even angry, he doesn't realise that he has a problem..."  
"Hey, c'mon, it will be okay," Camille smiled and patted his arm "This is the Gustavo Rocque we are talking about," Logan looked at her challengingly.  
"Yesterday he gave us a copy of his 'new song'; the music was identical to Backstreet Boys' 'Incomplete' only faster and the pitch was higher, and as for the lyrics well it was a mix of 'Incomplete', 'Bad day', oh and 'Girl to my heart'," he finished and raised an eyebrow at her.

"He's stealing lyrics from himself now?" Camille asked and Logan nodded "Wow, that's bad," she agreed.

"Griffin will not be amused."

/

Ellie noticed that James was silent. He still looked pale. He still avoided Kendall's eyes. Carlos was going about his theory that if they could make both of them jealous then everything would work out. Ellie try as she might couldn't see the logic behind his words.  
"Hey," she said in a low voice and looked at her left where James was seated "Are you okay?"

"Do I look okay?" he snapped. Ellie bit on her lip and shook her head. James sighed "I'm sorry it's just..."

"I will tell you a story, a short one. I don't know whether it will help you or not, frankly I think it might not," Ellie started expecting James to cut her off, when he didn't she mentally patted herself on the back "Back in Connecticut, when we were in fifth grade I had this best friend, his name was Charlie. I was a shy little girl, larger than the rest in my class and I had a total amount of three friends; Camille, Aria and Charlie. I was convinced than when we grow up Charlie and I would get married, you could say that I had a crush on him, I was convinced I loved him. I think Aria was jealous because I paid more attention to Charlie than her but Camille was always ecstatic about my 'relationship' with him," Ellie said, and James smiled "At some point I got sick and I had to stay home for a week. The girls came over every day, Charlie came twice. When I went back to school I noticed that the dynamic in the group had changed; Camille was now sitting next to Charlie, he would always wait for her when the bell rang, he saved her a seat next to him in the bus. I confronted him about it and he promised that I was still his best friend, I was still his favourite girl. I felt stupid then, and I decided to forget everything about it. Charlie, in my mind, was mine. Camille would never do anything to take him away. Then, the next day I saw them hugging goodbye; Charlie had never hugged me goodbye. I was devastated. I was ten and everything seemed so important and so tragic in my eyes. Aria found me hiding in the bathroom and when I told her what happened she went and picked up a huge fight with Camille. Then Camille was crying as well; she didn't want me to be mad at her, or Charlie. But I was," Ellie admitted and James noticed her cheeks turning red "I was so hurt, I felt so betrayed. I forgave Camille because I knew she didn't mean to hurt me, but it still stunk. I avoided her at first, and I avoided Charlie. I knew that they'd done nothing wrong, I mean deep down I knew. But I was ashamed of my reaction, I was ashamed of my hurt feelings, and I was ashamed of...me. I was not good enough for Charlie so he chose my best friend over me. I wrote that in my diary. Eventually I grew up and got over it...Years later said diary was stolen by one Camille Roberts in an attempt to find the perfect birthday present for me. Instead she found out how I really felt about everything that happened between the two of us and Charlie, she was livid mad at me for thinking that I was not good enough..." Ellie chuckled and paused "I guess the moral to this story is the only person that should be blamed in the situation was...me," I said simply "I was the one that put my own self down..."  
"I can't blame all this on Logan," James said quickly.  
"And you shouldn't! The situation is not exactly similar; Camille was Logan's girlfriend, Charlie was just my friend. What I'm trying to say is; I know for sure that Logan is not blaming you. He did blame you, at first, Camille did cheat on him with you. But he forgave you, don't let Kendall give you crap. The only person that is responsible for Logan not being able to decide what he wants, is Logan himself," Ellie said.

James didn't know what to make of the story. It was random that Ellie brought it up when she did; the two situations were different. James realised that Ellie had compared herself to Logan, and Camille to himself. Ellie was able to forgive Camille and Charlie just like Logan forgave Camille and James.  
"Do you think that...Logan thinks he's not good enough for Camille?" James asked surprised.

"From what I've seen of his character that's a possibility. And I'm sorry to say this but you can't fix that. He has to realise on his own that he's wrong," Ellie said.

"Logan is worthy of Camille, he's perfect for Camille," James said and Ellie nodded.  
"I know that, and I'm sure that deep down he knows to."  
"I don't know if this helped," James admitted "But thanks anyway," he smiled and gave her a one armed hug.  
"Awe, aren't they cute?" Aria whispered loudly making Ellie blush and pull away quickly  
"Shut it Roberts," her best friend ordered.  
"Don't talk to me like that Ellie," Aria jutted her bottom lip out and Ellie narrowed her eyes.

"It won't work on me, missy."  
"Oh well I had to try! Anyway, Carlos, I don't think that it will work," she told him with a regretful smile "It's a well thought idea but knowing Cami..."  
"It's okay Aria," Carlos told her with a genuine smile. Kendall smiled as well; he deeply appreciated that Aria let his friend down gently.  
"But I do have a plan," Aria said waggling her eyebrows "We can make them admit their feelings out loud, without knowing that the other person is there."  
"Oh like 'Much ado about nothing'!" Ellie said impressed with Aria's idea, it could really work.  
"Yes but Logan already knows about Camille's feelings and I guarantee you that he won't talk to anyone about his own," Kendall said shaking his head "He doesn't even admit it to himself."  
"Well we can try to make him," Aria said.  
"It won't work. I've tried, I really have but the boy is nothing if not stubborn," Kendall slammed his hand on the table making Carlos yelp.  
"I have an idea," Ellie said sifting on her sit "Logan doesn't want to lose Camille, right? Do you think that if she was to say go back to Connecticut in the end of the summer, he would admit how he felt?"  
"Maybe...If Camille asked him to give her a reason to stay," Kendall speculated "But I don't know for sure. Logan is so weird when it comes to matters of the heart."  
"Well it won't hurt to try," James said and Carlos nodded in agreement.  
"But Camille won't be leaving for Connecticut," Aria said looking at Ellie, the blonde sighed and lowered her head.  
"No, but she might be leaving for New York."

A/N: Did you like it? No? Yes? Let me know!


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the band...I think if I did people would know by now...**

**A/N: This is short, like really short and you can blame my finals for it. I love Carlos in this chapter, I hope you'll do to. Anyway, here it goes!**

Ellie's revelation had created a chain reaction of events that she had not seen coming; Aria stormed out and ran to the pool where in full interrogation mode she started questioning Camille. Julliard's letter of admission came up, Columbia and Cornell came up, Aria got mad at both of them. Things weren't any easier for Logan; once Carlos was reminded about Ellie's college letters he started asking Logan about his own. James and Kendall knew nothing about it and Logan found himself between a rock and a hard place.  
Ellie pulled up her hood and lowered her head. This week was going from bad to worst and it was all her fault. She just had to open that big mouth of hers! She put on her earphones and pushed play in her Ipod but...She frowned, that was not her playlist. She took the device out of her pocket and noticed for the first time that it wasn't green, it was white. This was Camille's Ipod. Ellie sighed, she could go back and get her own but the idea didn't sound so appealing; Aria was back there and the last thing Ellie wanted was another stare down with her best friend. She turned up the volume and started walking; she had promised after all to listen BTR's songs.

A light rain had started and Ellie was grateful that she was wearing a hoodie. She sidestepped a pool of water and kicked a rock that trickled under a car. Her college letters were still sealed; she didn't dare to open them yet. Neither did Camille. It was one of the reasons why Aria was so angry with them. Ellie knew that Aria wanted to know, so that she could start preparing herself for the separation but Ellie herself didn't want to know. Her feelings were so conflicted that made her head hurt; on one hand she really wanted to go, she really wanted to read that she was accepted. The thought that she could be rejected from both universities made her stomach turn. But on the other hand, Ellie didn't want to leave Aria behind. She had never been apart from the shorter brunette girl for more than two weeks and the prospect of being miles away, seeing her only at Christmas and summer, scared her out of her wits.

It was Thursday afternoon and the streets were not as busy as Ellie would have thought. She had taken a turn and ended up in a block she hadn't been before but she didn't panic; all she had to do to find her way back was follow the path she'd come from. An up-beat song came up.

Back home all her neighbours, friends, and acquaintances knew that when Ellie was out thinking she had her earphones on. They all knew that when she wanted to stop thinking she danced. And they all knew that when a dance song came up Ellie couldn't resist the urge to start dancing, even if she was outside in the middle of the street. But Hollywood wasn't Connecticut. And Carlos wasn't familiar with her tendencies.

An amused smile tagged at the corners of his lips as he came out of the market, and stood by the double doors looking at her. He hadn't seen Ellie or any of the girls in the last four days and he already kind of missed her. Carlos' was a peoples person; he was easy to like and quick to trust someone. And Ellie just made it so easy. He watched as she jumped and twisted and kicked at the rain. He saw her mouth moving along to the lyrics of a song and her hands drumming the air. He chuckled to himself and started walking towards her.  
During a particularly vigorous headbang the hood slipped of her head and Ellie felt the tiny small drops wetting her face. She had no time to reach for it because a second later her sneaker slid a little more on the left and the girl lost her footing. She let a loud yelp and got ready to meet the unwelcoming, wet, concrete but something stopped her. Or better say someone.

"Whoa," Carlos exclaimed wrapping an arm around her waist; Ellie clenched tightly on it and steadied herself. She took off her earphones and looked up at him "Are you okay?" he asked. Ellie's breathing was fast and swallow; she really thought she was going to fall. She gave him a small nod of her head and Carlos smiled "Impressive headbanging," he complimented her. Ellie's cheeks quickly flushed red.  
"Y-you saw that?" she asked her eyes widening. Carlos grinned in response "Oh god," she moaned mortified. She pressed her face against her arm and groaned. Carlos chuckled.  
"Hey it's okay, I won't tell anyone I saw you doing that," he reassured her.

"Yeah, but still you saw me, now you know."  
"I know what?"  
"That I'm a freak who likes dancing in the middle of the street," Ellie said embarrassed. Carlos frowned. He tapped her on the shoulder and waited until the girl turned to him.  
"You're not a freak," he said and she shook her head.  
"You're just saying this because you're nice."  
"No, I'm not. There's nothing wrong with dancing..."  
"Well, no, but there's something wrong with dancing in the middle of the street," Ellie said again. Carlos rolled his eyes.  
"No there isn't," he insisted "I've seen other people doing it."  
"Oh yeah? Name one," Ellie challenged crossing her arms over her chest. Carlos opened his mouth but he quickly shut it. Ellie kinked an eyebrow "No one?"  
"Well..." Carlos trailed of mimicking her posture "Kendall used to do it..."  
"Key word, used to," Ellie said. Carlos frowned again "I mean, past tense, he used to do it, he isn't still doing it," Ellie explained.  
"No because James told him that only dorks do that," Carlos said with a small shrug. Ellie nodded.  
"Dorks...I've never been called a dork before," she muttered to herself. Carlos' eyes widened in alarm.  
"What? No, I didn't mean..."  
"Relax, Carlos," she ordered playfully with a smile.  
"You're not mad, are you?" he asked.  
"Mad? You just saved me from falling, of course not," Ellie said and Carlos grinned again "You're kind of my hero."  
Hero, hmm...Now that's something that Carlos, had never been called before. And he always wanted to be a hero. He liked the way Ellie said the word, but if he was honest with himself he really liked the 'my' before the actual word.

/

Logan's resolution to keep away from Camille wasn't working. With all his friends being mad at him Logan found himself spending more and more time with his on again of again ex-girlfriend. Aria was also for some reason upset with him so whenever he appeared at their doorstep she'd open the door for him and the moment he was in, she'd sneak out.  
Camille was currently making brownies and he was pretending that he was watching TV. He could hear her humming under her breath as she made her way around the kitchen, but didn't dare to turn and look at her.  
"Do you maybe need some help?" he asked again and Camille shook her head negatively.

"Nope, it's alright, I'm almost done."  
Camille was stressed. And when Camille was stressed, Camille baked. She baked and she baked and she baked until she was calmer; cooking helped her ease out. You see cooking was one of the household chores that Camille enjoyed; cooking had order. There were portion measurements and time measurements and hand labor, and it all worked in order to keep her mind preoccupied. And when her mind was preoccupied it couldn't drift off. Camille liked that.

She was about to put the brownies in the oven when the phone rang. Her head snapped up and she looked at the device, and then at the griddle in her hands.

"Can you pick it up?" she called out to Logan.  
"Ugh, sure," he said and stood up to get to the phone. Camille returned to her brownies. She opened the oven and slipped the griddle in "Cam, it's for you," she heard Logan's voice behind her, and she straightened. She turned around and was surprised to find him right there behind her. She smiled up at him and extended her hand for the phone. Logan smiled back and handed it to her.

"Yes," she said as she started walking around the kitchen. Logan found it endearing that she couldn't sit at one place while talking on the phone "This is she, yes," he heard her saying and saw her head bobbing up and down, as she rounded the island. And then she halted. Her hand came up to her chest and her eyes snapped to his face. Logan grew wary "Really?" her voice was excited, so that calmed him down a little "You mean that? Oh my God!" Camille squealed and started jumping up and down "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she was chanting over and over "Yes okay...Monday morning, yeah, I'll see you!" she hang up and looked at him a deliriously happy smile drawn on her face. Logan simply raised his eyebrows. Camille squealed again and rushed over to him throwing her arms around his neck.  
Logan had seen it coming and yet his breath was knocked out of him as the short brunette crashed on him with all her force. He took a step back, and braced himself against one of the counters, before his arms wrapped around her waist. He held her close and relished at the physical contact, even if he didn't admit so to himself.

"What happened?" he asked and Camille pulled slightly away to look at him, her arms still clasped around his neck.  
"Aria got the part!"

"She did?" he asked and she nodded excited "Wow that's great!"  
"I know!"  
"We should definitely celebrate this."

"Mmm, Mr Mitchell, do you have something specific in mind?" she asked and he smirked.  
"I might...But we're gonna need help."  
"Help?"  
"Yup, from Hollywood's very own Party Kings," Logan said and Camille laughed.

**A/N: See, it was short. I hope I'll be able to update again in a couple of days, but it all depends on my studying...Anyway did you like it? No? Yes? Let me know! **


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the band...I think if I did people would know by now...**

**A/N: Longer chapter! Thank God for faction it helps to keep me sane. My finals are almost over! But you really don't care about that, do you? Anyway, here it goes, **

Aria knocked on 2J, bouncing at the balls of her feet as she waited. She heard the shuffling of feet making their way to the door and she plastered a grin on her face as it cracked open. Kendall frowned a little as he leaned on the door looking at her.  
"Gee, Kendall, don't look so excited," Aria said and Kendall noticed a hint of dejection in her voice. He pushed the door open all the way and stepped aside to let her in.

"My mom and Katie left for Minnesota an hour ago," he said and Aria scrunched her face.  
"And you're all broody because you get to spend some alone time, with your best friends, in Hollywood?" she asked sitting herself on one of the stools.  
"I'm not brooding, I don't do brooding," Kendall said and Aria just hooked an eyebrow but let it slide "And if you haven't noticed, my best friends and I aren't on the best terms," he added as he walked to the fridge "You want some juice?"  
"No, but a glass of water would be more than welcome," Aria said. Kendall gave her a nod and poured her some water "I think you're exaggerating a bit about the whole college letter thing," she said and took a sip of her water.  
"Is that right? Aren't you doing the exact same thing with Camille and Ellie?"  
"No, no, that's different," Aria defended. Kendall's eyebrows reached his hairline.  
"How?"

"Well, I'm not angry with them for hiding the letters," Kendall's look turned incredulous "I'm not! I was at first, but I get why they did it. I'm angry with them for not opening the damn things," Aria said running her finger over the rim of her glass.

"Why?" he asked and Aria looked up to find him gazing at his shoes.  
"Why, what?"  
"Why are you angry?"  
"I told you, I am..."  
"No, I mean, okay, they're not opening the letters, but why are you angry? It's their business, not yours," Kendall said still avoiding her face.

Aria was smart, not Ellie smart; book-smart, but she could read people, and she could read between the lines. She understood what Kendall was trying to ask without really asking it. She sighed and her hand brushed a dark brown lock of hair from her face and started twisting it around her finger.

"Because," she said and his eyes moved to her face "I haven't been away from Ellie for more than two weeks ever since the whole Johnny thing," she admitted. She pinned her eyes on her glass "And it's scary, the thought that she might leave me. I don't like it. And I know that it's selfish but I don't care. I was always a selfish person especially when it came to Ellie. And with Camille..." Aria bit on her lip "I've been away from her for so long, and now that there's a chance for us to be together, she might have to move to New York..."  
"Isn't it stupid to be angry with them?" Kendall cut her off "I mean if they do really move away at Fall, wouldn't you rather spent the summer...I don't know...not being angry with them?"

"You know the same rule applies for Logan," Aria said instead of answering. Kendall sighed and crossed his arms.  
"Yeah I know...I'm not even angry," he said slowly "I'm just confused. Why would he keep something like this from us?"  
"I don't know Kenny, I think you should ask him," Aria admitted. She took another sip of her water and looked at her watch; she had come over for a reason after all.

"Is Kenny, like a thing for you now? Because I don't remember agreeing to use it as a nickname," he said frowning. Aria smiled at him and tilted her head a little.  
"Well I like it, but if you don't I can always change it to Ken-doll, you choose," she said cheerfully. Kendall narrowed his eyes and threw her a dirty look.  
"Kenny it is then," he said. Aria's smile turned coy.  
"I know that Logan is over at my place because I ran on to him, but the apartment is too quiet, where's everyone else?" she inquired getting up.

"James is at the studio recording a solo, and Carlos went to the supermarket for some Fruit-Smackers..."  
"Isn't there a vendor in the lobby?" she asked frowning. She rounded the island and stood opposite Kendall. The boy rolled his eyes and gave a little shake of his head.

"There's but Bitters is delusional thinking that will pay 4$..."  
"4$?" Aria exclaimed surprised and he gave her a nod "That should be considered a felony! It's theft! How come none reported him to his boss?"  
"I guess no one cares enough..."  
"Oh, but I do! I'm gonna tell my father and then..."  
"Why would you get your father mixed up in this?" Kendall cut her off and she just blinked at him.  
"Because, Dad is a lawyer."  
"Your father is a lawyer?"  
"Ah, yeah...How long have you known Camille?" Aria asked confused.  
"Three years...It must've never come up," Kendall said shrugging. Aria nodded.  
"Right, right. Like the fact that Camille has a twin sister that never came up either" she said. Kendall looked at her for a second.  
"So, yeah, that's where everyone is," he said. Aria chuckled to herself.  
"Ok good, so no one will be looking for you..."  
"Hey! That's not a correct assumption!" Kendall said offended.  
"It is, and it works perfectly for my plan."  
"It is not...what plan?"  
"I'm stealing you away," Aria said with a secretive smile. Kendall pulled a face "C'mon!" she said and started walking to the door. When she put her hand on the knob she saw that he was not following.  
"Where are we going?"  
"It's a surprise, I can't tell you," she said. Kendall still didn't move. Aria could do two things; start whining, or...  
"Okay, your loss," she said and with a wink she walked out. Kendall pushed away from the counter that he was leaning on just as the door banged close.  
"Wait!" he yelled and hurried after her "I don't like surprises..." he mumbled to himself. Aria was already halfway down the stairs, he started running and after awhile he caught up with her "For a small person, you're way to fast," he said panting a little. Aria glared at him playfully.  
"I'll take that as a compliment," she said and there was a warning tone in her voice. Kendall didn't reply "And don't worry, you'll like this surprise."

_/_

"You sure this is going to work?" Camille asked chewing on her bottom lip. They were sitting at the lobby area, Camille on an armchair, and Logan just leaning on the arm of it.  
"Trust me, these two are too curious for their own good, they'll show up," he said reassuringly. Camille nodded and looked up at him.  
"Where's Kendall?" she asked. Logan shrugged. They'd decided that Camille should be the one that text the guys because if Logan did it, given the current situation, they might not even show up.  
"He wasn't at the apartment, so I guess...he went out," he said. Camille nodded. She squinted and said,

"You don't think that he's with Aria...do you?" she asked.  
"Do you know where your sister is?"  
"No, I remember her running away after she opened the door for you, but she didn't tell me where she was going," Camille said thoughtfully.

"Then they might be," Logan said. Camille ran a hand through her hair and her expression turned worried "Hey, look, your sister is smart she won't do something knowing that Kendall is still in love with Jo..." Logan reasoned.  
"It's not Aria that I'm worried about."  
"Well, then if you're worried about Kendall, be assured that he won't pull anything unless he's a hundred percent sure about it," he said but Camille didn't looked reassured.  
"It's just that...Aria hasn't been in a relationship ever since she broke up with Johnny and I don't want her to get hurt again," Camille muttered. She noticed that he tensed when she mentioned Johnny. Logan pushed away from the armchair and knelt in front of her.  
"Do you trust me, Cam?" he asked and Camille was overwhelmed by the look in his eyes; so much so that she couldn't bring herself to answer "Do you?" he asked again and there was this mixture of hope and fear and...longing in his eyes.  
"Of course," she breathed out. He smiled and touched her hand.

"Okay then, trust me when I say that Kendall is not Johnny, he'd never..." Logan stopped and pressed his lips together "Kendall is my best friend," he started again "I know him, for a long, long time, and if Aria was my sister I would trust him with her wholeheartedly. So you can do the same."  
"Okay," Camille said a little hesitantly. Logan smiled again and she smiled back. They just stood there for a couple of minutes, not saying anything. And then his face turned serious "What's wrong?" Camille asked.  
"We should really talk about this Johnny dude," he said and Camille shifted awkwardly in her seat.

"I don't..."  
"Please Camille," Logan cut her off "It's already bad enough that I had to find out from Kendall that something like this happened to your sister..."  
"That only happened because Kendall was there when Aria broke down, I wasn't going to tell him otherwise," Camille said quickly. She didn't want Logan to believe that she trusted Kendall more than she trusted him.  
"Okay...But, I need to hear the story from you. I really need this Camille," he insisted.

When at first Kendall told them about Johnny Logan couldn't believe it. Firstly because he couldn't imagine how anyone who dated Aria could treat her like that. And secondly...Camille hadn't told him about it. Granted it was something very personal, but one of the few rules they had established when they started dating was to not keep secrets from each other. Camille had no problem to agree to it and she was the first one to actually open up about herself.

Logan could understand why she'd keep something like that from him; it was Aria's secret to tell not Camille's. But he couldn't understand why Camille told Kendall and not him. And yes it made sense that she did; Aria broke down in Kendall's arm and the blonde demanded answers, and Logan knew how stubborn Kendall could be. Still the fact that it made sense didn't make it sting any less. And paired up with all the other insecurities he already had when it came to Camille, it all became too much for Logan.  
"Okay," Camille said with a small nod. She could see that Logan was telling the truth, that this conversation was very important to him "Ok, we'll talk about him. But there's not much there to talk about," she told him. Logan smiled.  
"It's okay. All I want is to hear the story from you," he said.

Ellie stopped once she entered the lobby causing Carlos who was walking a step behind her to crash on her. The boy yelped and jumped away from her, his face blushing up. Ellie gave him a smile, and inclined her head towards Camille and Logan.

"Well, well," Carlos said with a pleased smile "Maybe operation Lomille won't be needed after all."  
"Maybe," Ellie agreed "What do you think they're talking about?" she asked tilting her head a little as she looked at Carlos. He shrugged.  
"I guess something so lovey-dovey that will be gag inducing to the rest of us," he said and Ellie swatted his shoulder but giggled.  
"Hey!" James greeted from behind them rather loudly. Logan who was kneeling in front of Camille tried to pull quickly away but he tripped on his foot and fell on his butt. James and Carlos started laughing and Ellie brought her hand up to her mouth to hide her smile. Camille stood up and went to help Logan who gratefully accepted her hand and got back on his feet.

"Oh yeah, that was so funny," Logan said bitterly glaring at his friends. James' face sobered up immediately but Carlos kept sniggering until Ellie pushed her hand over his mouth. His eyes got wide and he looked at her, his cheeks once again turning red. Ellie turned her attention to Camille.

"You texted us?" she asked and Camille nodded "Ugh, something happened?"  
"Yup," Camille said and grinned. Ellie frowned "Aria got the part!"  
"What?" Ellie exclaimed making Carlos who was standing really close to her, jump "Oh my god!" Ellie clapped excitedly and started jumping up and down "Aria got the part!" she squealed making the boys smile "That's so awesome! We gotta celebrate!"  
"That's exactly why we texted you guys," Camille said looking at the three of them "Logan had this idea about throwing a theme party for her, and we need your help."  
"Party!" James and Carlos exclaimed simultaneously and started dancing. Ellie raised her eyebrows.  
"Okay, do they do that every time someone mentions the word party?" she asked no one in particular remembering that the boys reacted in a similar way the last time.

"Yes," Logan and Camille answered together. Logan sighed a little and looked at his friends "I never thought I'd say this but I think we need the help of the Hollywood Party Kings of Hollywood."  
Carlos and James gasped. Carlos moved closer to James and nudged him on the ribs.  
"Did he just say that he needs our help?" he whispered under his breath. Logan pressed his lips in a thin line looking at them.  
"That's what I heard...but maybe I'm dreaming," James whispered back.

"Or maybe this is not Logan," Carlos said his expression changing into a scared one. Ellie looked questioningly at Camille who simply rolled her eyes "Maybe he was abducted by aliens and this Logan here is his duplicate..."  
"I was not abducted by aliens!" Logan snapped. Carlos jumped and hid behind James "Carlos, it's me, Logan, okay? And I know that you're angry with me because of the Columbia letter, but this is for Aria..."  
"I'm not angry with you," Carlos cut him off. Logan's face broke into a smile. Carlos hesitated for a second but then tackled his friend and they both went crashing down "I was just sad that's why I've been avoiding you this week," Carlos explained. James looked at the two awkwardly shifting his weight from one foot to the other.  
"You don't need to be sad Carlos, I probably didn't even get in," Logan said his voice strained, Carlos' weight on his chest was making him wince.

"I bet you did," James murmured and Logan's eyes shot to his face "And that's why _I_'ve been distancing myself from you. I need to see how it will be like when you're gone."  
"James..." Logan started from his place on the floor but James shook his head.  
"Nah, we're here to talk about the party," he said and put a smile on his face that didn't fool his friends. Carlos pulled away from Logan and they stood up.

"Okay," Ellie said hating the tension that fizzed all around her "Aria is a sucker for the forties," she said and Camille nodded.

"Yeah, yeah, her favourite actress is Lana Turner and her favourite movie is, the post man always rings twice," she said the name of the movie in chorus with Ellie. The girls giggled.

"So we need, forties' music and costumes," James said to himself.  
"And forties' cuisine," Carlos added.

"Who are we going to invite?" Logan asked. Carlos exchanged a look with James.  
"Everyone," they said in unison. Logan's eyebrows reached his hairline.  
"Everyone? Aria doesn't know everyone..."  
"Logie, Logie, Logie," James said shaking his head, his hands coming on his friend's shoulders "This is a Hollywood party," he said holding up a finger "We are throwing the party, and we are Big Time Rush," he held another finger up "We are on our third album and Aria just got a part in a movie," his face turned serious as he leaned closer to Logan, so close that their noses almost touched "This is the big league," he said his voice heavy "We do something, we gotta do it right. Got it?"

"Yup," Logan chirped and took a step back. James flashed him a million watt smile.  
"Cool," he said and fixed his hair. Camille saw Ellie's incredulous look and went closer to her friend.  
"That's normal for them," she said in her ear.  
"I don't see how that can be normal for anyone," Ellie said shaking her head and Camille chuckled.

"When are we going to throw the party? Tonight?" Carlos said excitedly.

"Nah, there's no way we can get it all done in a day," James said "We need to go rent the costumes, get the apartment ready, find the right music, the right food and beverages...and we need to invite everyone."  
"Okay...So let's make it on Saturday," Logan suggested.  
"That's two days away...two days are enough," James agreed with a nod.

"Party time in two days!" Carlos exclaimed and threw his fist in the air "Woo-hoo!"

**A/N: Woo party preparations! Did you like it? Let me know. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the band...I think if I did people would know by now...**

**A/N: Wow, it took me a long while to update this time huh? Sorry about that but I got kinda stuck; I'm not sure how this chapter turned out. Let's hope you'll like it! **

Aria was struggling not to laugh. Her father was trying to engage her in a conversation but the girl was busy looking Kendall through the rear-view mirror, his back straight, and his face a mask of anxiousness. Aria couldn't understand how a man as sweet as her father could stress out someone so much. But she did enjoy it, mean as that was.

Kendall only allowed himself to breathe when he got out of the car. He had the door open the moment Mr Roberts started slowing down and he jumped out before the man pulled the break. Kendall pressed his hand over his chest and drew a couple of long breaths as Aria said goodbye to her father.  
"Okay, you have a problem," the short brunette said pointing at him.  
"No I don't," Kendall refused immediately.  
"You nearly suffocated yourself out of anxiousness," Aria pointed out her tone slightly accusing. Kendall decided not to answer. He looked around and frowned.  
"What are we doing here?" he asked. Aria pushed aside her irritation and smiled up at him.  
"Do you know what this place is?" she asked pointing at the building behind her.  
"Ah, the ice-ring," Kendall said with a small shrug. Aria winked.

"Bingo," she said and started walking. It took Kendall a minute to stop thinking and start following her.  
"Wait, what are we doing here?"

"Well...I know that when you guys feel all stressed out because of work you come here to calm down," Aria said remembering a conversation she had with Carlos about hockey on her first week in LA "And I know that lately with all the rehearsals you had like zero time to come over. So..." she trailed off.  
"But it's the middle of the day, the ring will probably be filled up," Kendall said. Aria made a sound that reminded him the annoying noise that is heard in quizzes on TV when someone gets a wrong answer.

"Not today it won't be."  
"Oh and how do you know that?"  
"Because," she said and pushed the door to the stadium open "I made it happen," she said smugly as Kendall gaped at the empty ring.  
"How?" he muttered. Aria crossed her arms.  
"I pulled some strings...Well, Daddy pulled the strings, but I told him too. He has people on high places that owe him favours, this was...nothing," she said with a shrug.  
"Nothing? N-nothing? This is great, Ar!" Kendall exclaimed and enveloped her in a hug lifting her off her feet. Aria giggled.  
"I'm happy that you like your surprise," she said when he let her back down.  
"But I don't have my..." Kendall started as Aria bend down and grabbed something from behind the bleachers. Kendall's mouth snapped close and his eyes grew wide.  
"Yeah, so I told James what I was thinking to do and he decided to help," Aria said and smiled. She handed him his skates "I think you know how to put these on, right?" she asked teasingly raising an eyebrow.

When Aria first came up with her plan, her two part plan, she had no idea that she'd find herself trying to balance on two very sharp still blades while trying to move forward on ice. But Kendall was a stubborn dude and his puppy dog eyes reviled hers. And so Aria was now in the middle of the ring waggling her arms back and forth in order to keep her body from hitting the cruel ice.

"C'mon it's not that hard," Kendall coaxed her while skating backwards. Damn that stupid hockey player. Aria glared at him.  
"Easy for you to say mister 'my dream is to be a professional hockey player'!" she snapped. Kendall laughed and came to a halt in front of her.  
"Okay, look, it's much like walking," he said and Aria scoffed.  
"For some reason I just doubt that," she said sarcastically.  
"That's because you know nothing about skating," Kendall told her. He took a hold of her hand and tagged her slowly forward. Aria yelped and quickly clenched on his arm.  
"Don't do that!" she yelled. Kendall rolled his eyes.  
"All you have to do is keep your body straight, knees a little bend...have you ever been for ski?" he asked and started moving again dragging her along.

"Ski? Yeah," finally something she had done "Yeah lots of times."  
"Good, so skating is a lot like skiing."  
"Really?"  
"Yeah, they have the same basic rules, legs apart, knees bend, body straight and you're good to go," Kendall said. Aria nodded and he let go of her hand. Her eyes grew in alarm.  
"No, no, no" she started as he moved further away from her "No, Kendall, this is not funny," she said and made a step forward while cringing, certain she was about to meet the ice "Kendall, please come back, I really don't like getting hurt," she whined and she could hear him laugh. She clenched her jaw and made another step; her left foot wobbled and she panicked but she knew that in ski when you shake you should not make any sudden movements, so she refrained from waggling her arms like before "I hate you so much Kendall Knight!" she said loudly.

Kendall was having a really good time. Aria was actually worst at skating than Camille had been and he didn't know how one managed that. By the end of his 'surprise' she'd gotten the hang of it but she was still threatening to disable him.

Kendall needed that; a relaxing day in the ring, away from the Palm Woods, away from the craziness of Hollywood. He needed some time to think and the ice always helped him. He decided that being angry at Logan wouldn't help him with anything; if Logan was accepted in Columbia Kendall being angry at him wouldn't change that. So he decided that once he got back home he'd sit Logan down and talk with him, and he was going to make him open that damn letter.

He really didn't want to think that Logan could very well move out by the end of the summer. He didn't know if he could handle that. Ever since the third grade when Logan moved from Texas to Minnesota the boys had been inseparable; because even if they drove each other crazy they knew that they could count on each other. Kendall knew that if anything happened James, Carlos, and Logan would have his back. And now the reality of the 'fantastic four' being reduced to the 'three left' was a very real possibility and it scared him. Kendall had promised himself to never play favourites with his friends but he knew that if pull came to shove, if he ever had to decide who his best friend was, then his decision would be easy; his decision would be Logan.

And like Aria, he was scared. He was scared because he didn't know what his life was without Logan, just like he didn't know what his life was with Carlos or James. Kendall knew that without his three best friends he'd be a whole different person. And he didn't want to be another person; he didn't want to find out who Kendall Knight would be without Logan Mitchell there to keep him in line.

"Hey," Aria said as they were sitting on the bench taking off their skates "You've been awfully quite for the past couple of minutes."  
"Sorry about that," Kendall said with a rueful smile "I was just thinking."  
"Hmm, I could tell. May I ask what of?"  
"Columbia," Kendall said with a sigh and she frowned "Columbia taking Logan away from LA and into New York," he elaborated. Aria's mouth made a perfect 'o'.  
"I see," she said after awhile. Kendall groaned and hid his face in his hands.  
"I want to be a good friend, I want to be supportive and all that," he said, his voice coming muffled "But I'll seriously start doing a happy dance if he doesn't get accepted," he said miserably. Aria chuckled a little "Does that make me an awful person?" he asked and lifted his head to look at her.  
"Yes," she said with a nod. Kendall grimaced and hid his face again "But I feel exactly the same way. I kinda hate myself about it," she admitted with a sad pout.  
"Look at as; a couple of miserable awful human beings," Kendall said sarcastically. Aria checked her watch and then stood up.  
"C'mon, we're leaving," she declared.

"Where too?"  
"It's a surprise," Kendall whimpered and stomped his feet.  
"I don't like surprises," he said petulantly. Aria crossed her arms.  
"You liked this one, and you'll like the other one too, I promise," she said and tried to hide the smile that was about to take over her whole face. Kendall sighed.  
"At least tell me that your dad is not driving us there this time," he begged and Aria giggled.  
"He isn't, we'll take the bus, okay? Now hurry up, you don't want to be late," she said and marched off. Kendall looked after her, shook his head, and followed.

_/_

When Ellie came out of the bathroom she found Camille sitting on one of the stools an envelope in her hand. The brunette was biting on her lip as she twirled the letter around with her fingers. Ellie slowly approached the island and leaned against it looking at her friend.  
"You're really gonna do this?" she asked. Camille's head jerked up "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," Ellie apologised.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people El," Camille chastised.

"You think you'll open it this time?" Ellie asked looking at the sealed envelope.  
For the past week at some point of the day Camille would take the letter out of its hiding place in her vanity table and look at it. She'd bend the corners, playing with it. She'd use it as a fan. She would hold it up under the light as if looking for a clue. She'd let it on the island while doing some chores around the house and sneak peeks at it. Ellie found the whole behaviour weird but she didn't say anything.

"I don't know," Camille said truthfully.  
"You want me to leave you two alone?"  
"No!" Camille said quickly reaching out for the blonde's hand.

"Okay, I'll stay here," Ellie said reassuringly. Camille gave her a grateful smile "Hey, any idea where Aria is?" Ellie asked.  
"I called her half an hour ago she said she has a surprise planned for Kendall and she'll get home late," Camille muttered. Ellie narrowed her eyes.  
"Aria is out with Kendall? And you're not freaking out about it?"  
"Well, Logan asked me to trust Kendall...and that's what I'm trying to do," Camille shrugged.  
"Hmm," Ellie grunted.

"Okay, this is ridiculous!" Camille exclaimed after a little while. She ran a hand through her hair and then with shaky fingers she tore the crisp white envelope. She took a hold of the letter pulled it out and started reading...And then she squealed really, very loudly. And Ellie jumped back yelping "Oh my God!" Camille whispered bringing her hand up to cover her mouth.  
"What?"  
"I got in! They accepted me, they want me! In Julliard! I got in!" Camille screamed excitedly. Ellie's eyes widened and her mouth fell open.  
"They...You...Got in?" she mumbled. Camille nodded "Congratulations!" the girl said pulling her friend in tight embrace "This is so great Camille! I'm so happy for you!" she said in her ear.

"I can't believe this," Camille said. Ellie could feel her shaking in her arms "This is Julliard, why would they want me?"  
"Because you're Camille Roberts," Ellie said stepping away to look her friend in the eyes "You're my best friend and you're a star."  
"But my grades..."  
"They were good enough for Julliard," Ellie cut her off "So you should better deal with it Roberts."  
"What am I going to tell Aria? And..." Camille trailed off her face falling. Ellie squeezed her shoulder.  
"Aria will understand, she loves you too much not to. And you know Columbia University is also in New York," Ellie said with a sly smile.

Camille sat back on her stool, calming herself down. Aria was going to understand, she was her sister, she loved her, she'd understand. She'd be a little bit angry at first but she'd come around eventually. And Columbia was in New York, Ellie was right. Her face broke into a huge smile; she was accepted in Julliard! She'd get to go New York and attend her dream college...And Logan would be there, because Columbia was there and because there was no way that he wouldn't get in. It was almost too good for her to believe it.

"Stop smiling like that Cami, it's creepy," Ellie admonished. The delirious look on her friend's face was unsettling.  
"Let's open your letter!" Camille said. Ellie shook her head.  
"No, I'm not ready yet..."  
"I won't take no for an answer," Camille said producing another letter.  
"Where did you find that?" Ellie asked surprised; she was certain that her hiding place was perfect.

"I admit that it took me a little while to figure it out, but Aria's travel book would be the first place I'd use as a hiding spot."  
"She never reads that book," Ellie muttered shaking her head.  
"I know, I don't even understand why she carries it around."  
"Oh, I know why," Ellie said with a secretive smile and Camille raised her eyebrows "Last time we went on a school trip I'd drag Aria to a small bookstore in the airport because I'd completely forgotten to put a book in my carryon bag," Ellie said rolling her eyes "She was moaning around while I browsed the titles and then she picked up the travel book saying that it's the only one that deserved my time because of the pretty pictures. And there was this guy behind her and he agreed with her...He was really cute, and Aria started talking with him, going on and on about how books are boring and unimportant and stuff and he agreed on everything. And that's how she ended up buying it. I think, that she still takes it with her whenever we go on a trip in hopes of seeing him again," Ellie mused. Camille blinked.  
"Wow, my sister is crazier than I thought."

"Yeah..."  
"Anyway! Open it!" Camille exclaimed thrusting the envelope towards Ellie.

It was her Columbia letter. Ellie's heartbeats picked up. It was scary how her whole future dependent on that small envelope. Ever since Ellie was a little girl she knew that she wanted one thing; to get away from her parents. And the only thing that could help her achieve that was her brain, because Ellie was smart and when you're smart you go places, or at least that's what she'd heard on TV. At first she didn't care about getting into an Ivy; any university far away from Connecticut would do. But then Mr Roberts decided to take the girls on a field trip to Columbia, show them around the campus, and share some stories from his college years. And Ellie fell in love; with the campus, with the buildings, with the fountain in the quad, and mostly with the library. Aria was really worried when Ellie didn't respond after calling her name a dozen of times and she started crying screaming that her friend wasn't okay; but Ellie was in awe of all the books and the silence that surrounded her.

Ellie was eleven back then and she couldn't wait for the seven years to pass. And now she was holding the letter in her hands and it all seemed so surreal to her. She took a deep cleansing breath as she turned the envelope and read her name on the front. Ellie licked her lips and started tearing it. She gulped when she got the letter out and shut her eyes.  
"Here goes nothing," she whispered. She opened her eyes slowly and peered down.

_Dear Miss Lawrence, we have to inform you with regret that you have not been selected..._The words after that small sentence didn't make any sense to her. Her stomach constricted and Ellie felt the tears in her eyes. She didn't get in. There was a bile in her throat that she couldn't swallow down. She gasped for air but the tightness in her chest wouldn't let any oxygen get in her body. Her vision got blurry and Ellie knew that any minute now her legs would give up on her. She was rejected. A teardrop fell on the white sheet of paper smudging the date. Ellie turned around and stormed out of the apartment.

/

Kendall was irritated. Aria's smirk was getting on his nerves. She hadn't answered not one of his questions claiming that it wouldn't be a surprise if she gave him any clues. But Kendall didn't like surprises and the annoying brunette girl knew that. Kendall huffed and started tapping his foot; Aria's smirk grew huger.

"Don't look so happy!" he snapped at her. Aria gazed at him innocently.  
"You don't want me to be happy?"  
"Not on my expense."  
"Oh, Kendall, you're such a drama-queen," the girl said rolling her eyes.  
"Hey!" Kendall exclaimed and she raised an eyebrow "I am NOT a drama queen."  
"Sure you aren't, who said you are?"  
"Stop patronizing me!"  
"Okay Kendall," Aria said in a sing-song tone. Kendall groaned and Aria looked out of the window. Five minutes later she clapped her hands "Here's our stop!" she said and grabbing his hand she dragged him to the double doors.  
"I think after today my left arm will be longer than my right, what with all your dragging," Kendall said grumpily.

"Aw, hush your whining Ken, you'll really like this surprise," Aria said. Once the doors opened she hopped off and started towards a hotel. Kendall sighed and followed her "Ah, key for G15 please," Aria said with a polite smile. The receptionist gave it to her and Aria turned to look at him "Ready for this one?" she asked.  
"I'm not so sure," Kendall said honestly. Aria winked and started walking again. He tried to work out what was going on but he came up blank, he could just not understand what they were doing in a hotel.  
Aria stopped in front of a closed door, it took her a minute to figure out how the key card worked, and when she did she let an excited cry, fist bumping the air. Kendall couldn't keep himself from smiling at her. She pushed the door open and stepped aside to let him in.

It was a normal hotel room only there was no bed. Instead in the middle of the room there was a round table, with a red tablecloth, and a lit candle in the middle of it. There were several plates filled up with food, a jar of soda and another one with orange juice. Kendall looked sideways towards Aria who was still smiling. Was that a lunch date? Kendall felt his stomach turning a little as he thought of the implications. He turned and looked at the short girl.  
"Look, Ar, you're an amazing girl and you are a very good friend but this, this is not right."  
"What?" Aria asked dumbly.  
"This," Kendall pointed first at the table and then at the air between them "This is not right," he repeated. Aria frowned a little and then she understood what he was saying.  
"Oh, no, no Kendall this is not a date!" she said quickly. Kendall felt like his whole face was on fire.

"It isn't?"  
"No! I mean, yes it is, but not for us!" she said hurriedly.  
"Huh?"  
"Okay now I feel stupid," Aria muttered lowering her head "I wanted to repay you for being there when I had my emotionally meltdown the previous night, because you were so sweet and I was a total mess...So I tried to find the perfect way and after a lot of thinking and a lot of organizing I did," Aria looked at him under her lashes "This is a date for you and Jo," she explained.

"What?"  
"Yeah, here, look," Aria instructed. She turned a switched on the wall and a white screen came down in front of the table. Aria walked to the desk and turned on a laptop that was hooked in a projector "I know that you had no time to talk with Jo lately..."  
"You know a lot of staff," Kendall mumbled and she chuckled, blushing a little.  
"Yeah...Anyway so I thought that a lunch date with her would be the perfect surprise. I asked Camille if she knew her hotel number and she did but no matter how many times I called I could not find her. The sixth time that I called the girl that answered, it was always the same girl, started asking questions; why I called so many times, what did I want, blah-blah; and I thought that it wouldn't hurt telling her. She thought it was a great idea and she decided to help me," Aria explained while setting everything up "It was quite the task to find a day that would be convenient for the both of you and then to actually organize this without anyone suspecting anything..."  
"No one else knows about this?" Kendall asked. Aria looked up from the laptop.  
"Logan does. He caught me Skyping with Rachel, that's the girl who's helping me I think she's a production assistant, but I made him promise not to say anything."  
"Aria..."  
"I know I should've probably stayed out of it, I mean I don't have a right to interfere with your love life, but I wanted to do something nice for you," Aria said biting on her lip.  
Kendall was speechless. He didn't know how he was supposed to react. Aria had gone through all this trouble for him, just because he happened to be there when she broke down.

"You didn't have to do all that Ar, I didn't do anything," Kendall said shaking his head.  
"You were there for me."  
"You are my friend," he said with a smile that reassured Aria he wasn't mad with her "Of course I was there. But you didn't have to repay me or anything..."  
"I wanted to. You're not mad at me, are you?"  
"Mad? Why would I be mad?"  
"Because I butted in your personal business?" Aria said with a small shrug. Kendall opened his mouth to speak but the laptop chimed attracting Aria's whole attention. Kendall watched as she typed away "Okay," the girl said excitedly as she turned back to him "Your date starts in one," she held up a finger and pushed him back towards the table "Two," she added another finger as the back of his knees touched a chair "Three," she held three fingers up smiling, and then pushed him down. Kendall grimaced.  
The screen in front of the table wasn't white anymore. It was like looking at a mirror; there was an almost identical room over there, with a table of its own and a candle and food. Only instead of Kendall sitting on the chair there was Jo. Aria waved and Jo smiled at her.  
"Hi I was just leaving, it's nice seeing you again Jo," Aria spoke first.  
"It's nice to see you as well," Jo told her "And thank you so much for this. I don't know how you managed to make Rachel keep a secret," the blonde said with a chuckle. Aria laughed a little.  
"It was really hard trust me," she admitted "Anyway, I'm gonna leave you two alone," she said patting Kendall's shoulder.  
"Hey, give Camille a huge hug from me okay?" Jo said. Aria nodded.  
"I will, bye!" she said and walked out. Kendall shifted at his seat looking at his ex-girlfriend.  
"So," Jo said leaning on the table pinning in his eyes.  
"So," Kendall repeated "Hi," Jo chuckled.

"Hey," she said with a small wave. Kendall tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to him.

**A/N: You liked it? Yes? No? Let me know! Oh and should I write the Jendall date? Or should I skip it? **


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the band...I think if I did people would know by now...**

**A/N: Um...hi! Gosh, guys, I don't know what to tell you. I hate excuses..so I won't make one for myself. I'll just say that in the last few months I wasn't inspired about this story. And I hope you still like it, and care to see where this is going. Because I am going to finish it, at some point. And I know what I want to do with it...Fair warning to all the readers that this is going to turn dark in a couple of chapters...Anyway, I don't want to tire you, so here you go, this is ch 12! **

**Chapter 12**

Logan was about to open the door when someone knocked from the other side. He frowned at the wooden surface and turned the knob. Camille was standing at the threshold looking worried.  
"Have you seen Ellie?" she asked.  
"Ellie? Today? No," Logan said shaking his head a little. Camille sighed and shut her eyes pressing her fingers against her forehead "What's wrong?"  
"It's all my fault," Camille muttered. Logan took one of her hands in his, pulled her in the apartment, and shut the door.  
"What's your fault? What happened?" Camille simply shook her head "Hey, come on," Logan put a finger under her chin, lifting her head up "Talk to me."

Camille was angry with herself. If she hadn't insisted on opening the stupid letter Ellie wouldn't have stormed off crying. _Stupid, _she thought to herself internally. Logan was still looking at her waiting for an answer, and now Camille could feel her palms sweating. He didn't know anything about the letter she'd received from Julliard.

"Um, something happened," she said, her eyes falling from his to their joined hands "Something that I...something I didn't tell you about," she continued.

"Okay," Logan nodded to himself, squeezing her hand a little "Care to tell me now?"

"Remember that essay you made me write for Julliard? And the tape you insisted I sent them?" Camille glimpsed at him, and saw him nodding "Well they...um, they sent me a letter..."

"College letter?" Logan asked, knowing that yes of course it was a college letter, it was just an instinct to say it out loud. Camille bit on her lip and bobbed her head "And?" he asked, trying to sound not too pushy.

"I-I...I got in," Camille stuttered a little over her words. Logan's eyes widened a fraction, his face remaining blank for a couple of seconds, before a huge grin took over.

"You got in? You got in Julliard? Cam, that's great!" he said excitedly pulling her in a tight hug.

Soon as his arms wound around her, Camille found herself relaxing unconsciously. She was still beating up herself about Ellie, internally, but it was hard to focus on anything that wasn't Logan while being pressed against his body. Her arms came around his shoulders, her fingers playing with the hair at the nape of his neck, and she rested her head on his shoulder. Logan couldn't stop himself from burying his nose in her curls and breathing in her familiar scent, the one that made him tingly all over.

"I'm so happy for you Cami," he whispered in her ear, and Camille felt the corners of her lips tugging upwards into an easy smile "And so damn proud," he added, and without thinking he planted a small kiss at the tender skin bellow her ear.

Camille shivered, and it took him a second or so to pull away as if he was burnt. He pushed himself at the other end of the couch, his cheeks burning up, his eyes refusing to make contact with hers. If Camille wasn't so upset about Ellie, she'd definitely be pissed by his behaviour. She was so tired of this back and forth thing between them. She made a mental note to have a serious conversation with Logan about where they stand; if he didn't want to be with her, then she'd be mature and get over him, but if he answered with another 'I don't know'...

_Ellie, you're here about Ellie_, Camille reminded herself, chasing away the murderous thoughts. She would worry about Logan another day.

"But I don't understand," Logan said when he found his voice again. His cheeks were still somewhat pinkish "What does your acceptance letter have to do with Ellie?"

"Well..." Camille toyed with her fingers. Why was it suddenly so hard to use the English language? Camille wasn't one to use long pauses and yet she hadn't gotten a sentence out without one "I might have forced her to open her own letter."

"Which one?" Logan questioned, remembering that Ellie had shown him not one but two letters during her first day in LA.

"The important one," Camille said miserably.

"Um, Cam, I still don't know which one that is."

"Oh right, you don't know about Ellie's fixation with Columbia."

"So she didn't get into Columbia?" Logan asked and she shook her head no.

"But I'm sure she got into Cornell! I mean, she already went for an interview there last spring, and they fell in love with her. She was a shoe in since she was a junior, I'm certain she got in," Camille bubbled.

"Okay, so she got one out of two, that's pretty damn great," Logan said. Camille gave him a sad smile.

"Not really. Ellie was absolutely in love with Columbia, ever since we were ten years old. She'd go on and on for hours about how great it'd be when she was old enough to go there, and now..." Camille trailed off, heaving a sigh.

Logan's need to comfort her made him scoot closer, ignoring the strong protest his mind was giving. He reached for her hand, his thumb brushing over the back of her palm.

"You know that it's not your fault right?" he started. Camille didn't look at him "So you made her open the letter when she didn't want to, but that doesn't make it your fault."

"I know," Camille gave in, looking at him under her lashes "But if you'd seen how sad she was before she stormed out..." Camille pressed her lips together, and shook her head.

"Hey, I'm sure that Ellie will be fine. I might not know her so well, but I know she is a strong person," Logan said reassuringly.

"Yeah, she's strong," Camille agreed "She had to learn to be strong or else..." Camille quickly shut up. This wasn't her story to share. Logan raised a questioning eyebrow "As you said, you don't know Ellie so well."

"O-kay," Logan took in the cryptic answer. He wasn't going to press, because he knew Camille wouldn't budge; she was really firm with the whole 'not my story to tell' thing "Well, it would've been nice to see a familiar face in campus, but I'll have to deal with being a loner, I guess," he said with a sigh. Camille blinked confused.

"What?" it was Logan's time to start sweating. He shifted a little in his seat, but didn't take his eyes away from her face.

"I-I opened my letter...My, ugh, my acceptance letter. I didn't tell the guys, because I didn't know how, but I will..And I, I got in," Logan said, his voice an octave higher than it should be "Class of 2016 here I come," he joked, a crocking sound that vaguely reminded her of a chuckled, escaping his lips.

"You g-got in? In Columbia?" Camille didn't know why it was so hard to believe. This was Logan! Genius Logan who wanted to be a doctor since kindergarten. She knew he'd get in. And yet hearing him saying it out loud...

"Yep," Logan chirped.

They were both going to be in New York. Together! Camille couldn't contain herself as she let an excited yelp, and tackled him, with enough force to knock him on his back on the couch. Logan chuckled, and she felt the vibration against her chest, as she laid on top of him.

"Logan that's so wonderful!" she said excitedly, resting her weight in her hands that were on either side of his head. Logan beamed at her "Of course I didn't doubt you'd get in..."

"Oh no?" Logan asked cheekily, raising an eyebrow "Cuz' I'm pretty sure I detected a smidge of surprise in your voice."

"That was only because I found it hard to believe we'd be together in New York," Camille said catching him off guard. Logan's eyes softened, the teasing smirk falling off his lips. He slowly brought his hand up to her face, brushing some hair out of her forehead, his fingers lingering on her cheek. Camille could feel her heartbeats picking up as he didn't break the contact and she didn't know how much more of this she could take before giving in.

Muting the tiny voice in the back of his mind that screamed something about unnecessary complications, Logan slid his hand on the back of her neck, dragging her down for a kiss. A shot of adrenaline shot through him, just by the mare touch of her lips against his, and Logan was amazed of his body's reactions to her. Camille was stunned. So stunned that at first she didn't react. Logan massaged her neck, and his tongue darted out, licking her bottom lip, effectively bringing her out of her stupor. Camille hummed against his lips, her hands snatching fistfuls of his sweatshirt, afraid that if she'd let go he'd vanish. But this time he wasn't going anywhere.

/

"So," Kendall said playing with his napkin. Unfortunately he didn't know what else to say, and the small adverb was left hanging in the awkward silence between them.

"It was really nice of Aria to organize this whole thing," Jo said, trying to start a conversation.

"Oh, yeah totally. And she didn't even have to do it! She already did something for me today, and this dinner..." Kendall shook his head "It's all just too much. Not that I don't appreciate it but..."

"You don't know what you did to deserve it?" Jo asked and Kendall looked up at her nodding; Jo somehow always knew what he was thinking "Yeah..Rachel went through all this trouble, and we aren't even really friends...I feel like I owe her."

"Aria did all of this because I was there when she needed a friend," Kendall said. He took a sip of his orange juice "I'm so used to being the leader, the one who always takes care of others, and it's just so...unfamiliar when someone shows gratitude about it," he muttered "Not that I want the guys to show me gratitude, that's not..."

"No I totally understand what you're saying," Jo cut him off "You and the boys love each other, and you know that. You don't need to show it all the time. But it's good to know that you're appreciated."

"Yeah, that," he said offering her an easy smile.

"You and Aria seem close," there was no sign of jealousy in her voice, and Kendall wasn't upset about it.

"Well she's Camille's sister, so we see a lot of her. And it's difficult not to like her, she kinda sneaks up on you and then you can't shake her off," Kendall's words were irritated, but there was a fond smile on his face.

"You said she already did something else for you?" Jo wasn't about to stop talking about Aria. She didn't care if it was weird or not, she wasn't about to let the conversation die down again.

"Yeah, she took me out to the ice-rink," Kendall let her know "There's so much going on with the new album, and we barely got time to sleep, so I hadn't been out there. But Aria pulled some strings, and she booked the ice-rink for the whole day."

"Wow, she showed some gratitude," Jo said with a big smile. Kendall agreed but then he remembered that he was talking to his girlfriend. Or was it ex-girlfriend? They hadn't talked about that one yet...

"You don't mind, right? That Aria and I are so close?"

"Kendall, I'm not gonna stop you from making friends," Jo said rolling her eyes good naturedly.

"Yeah, no, I know...And she's just that, a friend," Kendall pressed the last word.

"I got that the last couple of times you said it," Jo teased him. Kendall chuckled.

"I'm sorry, I guess, I'm just nervous. We haven't talked in a long while, and there are two new girls in my life that you don't know, and I don't want you to get the wrong impression..."

"Hey Kendall," Jo cut him off "First of all; breathe," she ordered. Kendall nodded his head, taking a deep breath "Second of all; I've met both Ellie and Aria while visiting Camille, and even if I hadn't, one of them is Camille's sister, and the other her best friend. I trust Camille's judgment. Third; even if I didn't trust it, I'd trust you. I know you wouldn't hurt me on purpose."

"Wow," Kendall said, making her raise her eyebrows in question "You're the perfect girlfriend," Jo's cheeks blushed and she grinned.

"So I've been told," she said coyly. Sustaining a conversation after that was a piece of cake.

/

James closed the door to the rooftop behind him, taking a long breath as the breeze ruffled his hair. He thought about taking out his comb and fixing it, but he refrained from doing so; he just wanted to relax. That's why he was up there after all; Kendall had the ice-rink to go to when LA was too much for him to handle, Logan had the public library for when he felt like the whole 'being in a boy-band' thing was too stressful, Carlos had the studio –surprisingly- when he wanted a break, and James had the rooftop where he could escape and be just James and not James Diamond.

He begrudgingly realised that he wasn't alone when he heard the sniffling. He rounded the small storing space that occupied a portion of the tarmac, one that Bitters kept locked at all times, ready to rudely shoo away whoever was there, but then he came to a stop. With her back resting against the wall, her knees drawn up to her chest, and her arms around them, Ellie was sitting there, her face pressed against her jeans clad legs, tears cascading down her cheeks. Her blond hair was mingled due to the wind, and she was shaking.

"El?" James said in a smooth voice, not wanting to startle her. Ellie's head shot up, her eyes quickly landing on him. Her face flamed up, her cheeks getting redder than they already were due to her crying, and she quickly wiped at her tears, trying to get up.

")-James, what are you doing here?" she questioned, when she realised that she couldn't at the same time dry her face, stand up, and make a run for it. Apparently she was such a loser that she had to do one thing at a time; multitasking was for smart people.

"You found my hiding spot," James said, dropping on the ground next to her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I-I didn't...I'm gonna go, and leave you be," she said, and tried to get away. James took a hold of her wrist, and held her in place.

"You seem like you could do with some hiding," he said, and she swallowed as more tears made their way to her face "What happened?" he asked.

Ellie bit on her lip, her eyes moving away from his face. She didn't want to tell him. She didn't want anyone to know. In all her life she knew that she had one thing going for her; her brain. She wasn't beautiful, or talented, or popular, but she was smart. And being smart was as good as any of those other things. Being smart would help her get away from a home where no one cared for her. And now, now there was solid proof that she wasn't as smart as she thought she were. In fact she was not smart at all, she was just a stupid girl who thought she was good enough to get into a college as prestigious as Columbia. Who was she kidding? Of course she wasn't good enough.

"Hey, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," James said when he noticed that she looked more upset than when he found her.

"I'm stupid." It was said in such a small voice that James could pretend that he hadn't heard her. But he had. And then he gaped at her.

"What?" he asked dumpily, and Ellie looked at him with her huge, teary eyes, making his heart skip a bit; he'd never seen anyone's eyes look so hurt before.

"I'm stupid," she repeated in a louder voice. James stared for a second, knowing how impolite he was being.

"El, you're one of the two smartest people I know," he said finally. Ellie shook her head, and shoved something in his face.

"Read here, then you'll see," she said.

James eyes focused on the small, black, printed letters. Some of the words were smudged because of Ellie's tears, and the paper was crinkled, from clenching it in her hand for so long, but it was still pretty clear to read. James skimmed through the lines, and then looked over at the broken girl sitting next to him.

"I didn't get in," Ellie whispered when she felt his eyes on her.

"That doesn't mean anything Ellie. It certainly doesn't mean you're stupid," James said handing her back the letter. Ellie looked at it again, scoffing bitterly.

"Yes it does. It means exactly that. If I wasn't stupid, I would've gotten in."

"No," James wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders, pulling her against his body "No that's not true. And it's their loss."

"Their loss?" Ellie looked up at him, and James offered her a sweet smile.

"Definitely their loss. El, you're smart, you're funny, you're intuitive, and an all around awesome person. You have the biggest heart, and if they didn't want you in their university then they're the stupid ones, not you," he said rubbing her shoulder.

"Now you're just being nice cuz' you're my friend," Ellie said, but she smiled.

James beamed at her. It was weird. He felt really protective over Ellie, kind of like he felt with Katie, only it wasn't the same. Mainly because he knew Katie all his life, and he met Ellie a month ago, but that wasn't the only difference. With Katie, when she felt down and Kendall wasn't around, he'd hold her and tell her that everything would be okay – although to be honest, Katie almost never felt down. But with Ellie, he wanted to make sure he was the one to make everything okay.

That was weird, right?

"That's also not true," he said, pressing a kiss on the top of her head. Ellie fought with herself to not blush, but she failed epically "Have I told you that you look cute when you blush?"

"It might have come up, a couple of times," Ellie said aloofly. James chuckled.

"If it makes you feel any better, I didn't get into any college," James said, and she frowned at him.

"You applied for one?" she asked not meaning to sound as surprised as she did. James nodded.

"Logan made us, all of us. I applied for Julliard and a couple of others but..." he shrugged.

"College is not for everyone," Ellie said, settling more comfortably against him "And plus, they're the stupid ones, they don't know what they're missing out on," she added with a slight smirk.

"Oh?" James smirked.

"Pff, you're James Diamond! One fourth of one of the biggest boy-bands that currently own the charts! And not to add that you're pretty smart, and you can sing...And you're also not hard on the eyes," she said the last part blushing again "Triple threat," it came out a bit squeaky.

"Now, whose the one who's being nice?"

"I'm simply being honest."

"Mm, okay. I can accept that I can sing, and yeah I'm stunning," he winked at her and Ellie rolled her eyes with an exasperated huff, but smiled "But I'm not smart."

"Mm, you see, that's where you're wrong. You're smart, James Diamond, and you know it. You just some times like to play stupid; it's easier and it helps you to get what you want."

"You're calling me a manipulator?"

"I call it as I see it," Ellie said cheekily. James watched her for a second, and then he smirked.

"Well, well, don't you have me all figured out, Miss Ellie?"

"I try," she said bashfully. James laughed softly.

"Okay, so, do you think you're ready to face the real world?" he asked, and he saw her eyes darkening in an instant "We can stay up here for a while longer, I don't mind..." he added quickly.

"No, no, I guess this is as good a time as any. I think Camille might call the cops soon. I should've texted her, tell her I was okay..."

"Hey, you didn't feel okay. You could only think about yourself. And that's acceptable El, you can be selfish once in a while," he said squeezing her against his body. Ellie remained silent.

James stood up first, and offered her his hand to help her on her feet. Ellie gladly accepted it, and she was slightly surprised when he didn't let go once she was up. They walked to the door that would lead them downstairs, to their friends, and Ellie felt her stomach turning. James opened it, and then stood behind her, leaning forward, and saying next to her ear.

"Ladies first."

Ellie felt the tingle running down her spine but decided to ignore it. It wouldn't work out anyway, it would be stupid to lead herself on when she knew James. She offered him a smile, and walked in first. Time to face reality.

**A/N: Soooo, I don****'****t really know **_**when **_**the next update will be, but I know there will be one. I****'****m positive about it, I will finish this story. I know this wasn****'****t long, but I want to know what you thought of it. You liked it? Hated it? Oh and what do you think of the Ellie/James scene? And sorry to the Lomille shippers, but things won****'****t be easy for the couple...Anyway, review pretty please, and let me know what you think! Until the next time, bye! **


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